Heart of Gold, Heart of Tin
by TheShoelessOne
Summary: CainDG. Series of ficlets on what could have been. Don't blame me, I only listen to the voices in my head.
1. DG Meets Jeb and Makes His Father Blush

_In which DG meets Jeb Cain and makes his father blush._

Cain helped her down off of his horse, as he always did.

"You all right?" He asked, as if it had become a ritual. She nodded as enthusiastically as she could muster, what with the weight of the O.Z. on her shoulders. Cain seemed to pick up on that little something behind her eyes, nodded only once, and gently took her wrist in his hand to lead her into a dark thicket of trees.

"Now, ah," Cain began, looking only slightly flustered, "you remember me telling you about my son, right?"

DG nodded. "Jeb, right?"

"Right." Cain peered over his shoulder to be sure that Glitch and Raw were following with the horses. "He kinda runs things around here, so he might be busy—"

"I'd like to meet him," she said, smiling. Cain cleared his throat.

"He's probably going over the invasion plans—"

"Father?" Jeb's head poked out of the thicket, dirt smeared all over his face. Cain rolled his eyes, barely visible.

"Never can get a word in edgewise…" He sighed, brushed aside a hanging branch and led DG into the thicket near where Jeb had appeared. Jeb held back the branch for the others following, smiling at his father and the girl standing beside him. "Ah, Jeb, this is DG. DG, this is my son."

"My pleasure," Jeb said, bowing slightly. DG shook her head, and a smile cracked over her features.

"No bowing, please. No, really, I don't think I'm used to the whole 'princess' thing yet."

"Hey, Jeb," Glitch saluted, holding the horses' reigns in hand. "Where d'you want these, uh…" He paused momentarily, sizing up the creatures beside him. "These things?"

Jeb smirked, the skin around his eyes crinkling up in exactly the way his father's did. "Just take them into camp. They won't go anywhere."

"Gotcha." He pulled the beasts along after him, and Raw followed, smiling kindly as he passed DG. She returned the gesture just as easily.

Jeb watched to make sure Glitch and Raw were out of earshot before he turned quickly on his father, something bright in his eye. "Were you holding DG's hand?"

DG had to hold in a childish snicker at the way Cain's eyes went suddenly wide, and he tried to hide it by pulling down the brim of his hat. "No," he answered simply. It was true; he'd been holding her wrist. That didn't mean it wasn't funny. Something danced around in DG's chest, and for the first time in a long time, a bright, wide smile broke over her face. She had time to play one more game before the fate of the world unraveled around her.

"Y' see, Jeb," DG began, making both men's heads shoot up at the same time, "your father and I are what you might call 'an item'."

Jeb only had a microsecond to look befuddled at his father, whose eyebrows were drawn down in concern.

"No," Cain assured him in a quick voice, "no we aren't."

DG shrugged as casually as possible. "There's no use denying it. We've been caught in the act."

Cain tipped up the brim of his hat to glare at her better, his son only peripheral now. "You can't get caught doin' something you're not!"

She seemed about ready to overflow with a fit of giggles, but she somehow restrained herself. "Jeb here takes after his father; he's got good eyes."

"DG…" Cain rolled his eyes and visibly sagged. She cut him off before he could begin, elbowing Jeb knowingly in the arm.

"You know, they don't call 'em Tin Men for nothing."

Then, for the first time in their short acquaintanceship, DG saw Cain's face flush a delightful shade of pink. It only tinged his cheeks and the tips of his ears, but she couldn't help the snort of giggles that suddenly seized her. He looked from the girl to his son, the latter of which looked more concerned about his father's reaction than anything. Cain held up one accusatory finger, drawing his eyebrows down and trying to ignore the heat in his face.

"No." That was all he said before he reached out to take DG by the wrist. "We're leaving." He stalked away from the edge of the thicket, in toward the center, leaving Jeb in their wake. DG turned to smile and wave at him.

"Nice to meet you, Jeb," she called back. Jeb gave an awkward wave in return, his face unsure of what to do with itself.

The two came to a secluded clearing, and without warning, Cain whipped around to face her. She was pleased to see that he was still blushing, though only slightly.

"That wasn't funny," he said at once.

"Yeah it was," she responded. The residual smirk still resided on her lips. Cain removed his hat and ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"That's my _son_, DG. He's got to have a _little_ respect for me." He looked about the clearing, as if it might hold answers.

"Sure, he's got respect now," she responded, shrugging. "He probably thinks that his dad bagged a princess."

Cain's hue turned a darker shade, and she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing aloud.

"I didn't…. _bag_ anyone." He plopped his hat back on, looking at his feet until he regained a normal coloring. "You really think this is the time for joking around?"

DG's smile faded, and Cain's lips pressed into a fine line for making it disappear.

"Well, if this is the last time I get to play a joke on the stuffy old Tin Man, I better make the best of it, right?"

"Hey," Cain said suddenly, something sad suddenly hiding behind his eyes. "Don't you start talking like that."

"This is it, though. Right?" Her big, round eyes stared right up at him, looking for the answers in his eyes. "If there's something we need to do before everything starts going crazy, this is the time to do it." As she went on, she didn't see the slow change that came to Cain's face. "I mean, what use is a joke gonna be when a crazy witch locks the suns behind the moon, anyway? And say you wanted to—"

She felt then that Cain had taken both of her shoulders in his hands, gripping her tight. There was only a moment's gap before he pulled her in tight and close, his lips closing on hers. Her eyes flew wide open at the contact, with her heart stuck somewhere in her throat, and just as quickly, her eyelids fluttered gently closed. He was close, and warm, and most definitely kissing her. She only had time to pull one more kiss from him, to feel and smell the closeness of him.

As quickly as it had come, Cain pulled suddenly back, nearly taking the girl's lips with him. She seemed woozy and unsteady in his arms, her mouth still slightly open and her lidded eyes looking softly up at him. His hands dropped suddenly from her shoulders. She saw that his cheeks were definitely red again. He cleared his throat once, sighed through his nose, and turned on his heel to continue stalking out of the clearing.

DG didn't follow for quite some time. Jeb appeared behind her, having missed the entire scene. She held the same confused expression as he appeared before her. His brows were drawn down in a concern that matched his father's so well, DG felt something flutter in her heart.

"You all right?" Jeb asked.

DG nodded. "Just… thinking, I guess."

Jeb smiled, his eyes shifting around the clearing for signs of his father, then leaned in slightly to whisper: "You didn't mean that, with you and my father, right?"

DG looked up at him, and half a smile attempted to twitch up onto her lips. "I don't know," she said in a light, dreamy sort of voice. With that, she floated off after Cain with something like confidence in her step.

Jeb's concern only mounted, and he shook his head worriedly as he tromped off after her.

* * *

AN: Weeeell, that was exciting and fun! I've been a Cain/DG shipper since before the miniseries started, and now they're living in my head alongside all of the other freeloaders up there. Basically, everything I will eventually write here will be something that could've/should've happened in the miniseries. And it will mostly be CainDG. Cuz I love them. I was thinking that we need a separate Tin Man section. I think I'll go email someone about that now... HMM... Anyway, tell me what you think, and I love the input! 


	2. DG and Cain Pretend to be Friends

_In which Cain and DG pretend to be friends and are spied upon._

The suns were setting, and natural darkness slowly took the O.Z. in its grasp. DG sighed, a smile hovering on her lips as she watched night arrive. The suns sank below the ridge of the far-off mountains and were swallowed. The swing creaked as she gently pushed herself back and forth. Twilight surrounded her, but this was a good darkness. Not like the darkness the witch had tried to force upon them just hours previous. She shook her head in amazement. It felt like days.

"Why don't you come inside?" A voice sounded from behind her. She turned her head only slightly, dark hair spilling over her shoulder. She caught the familiar brim of his hat in her eye, and she smiled as she turned back to face the shining waters.

"Good evening, Mr. Cain," she said in return. This wasn't the answer he'd wanted, and she heard him utter his usual frustrated sigh. She smirked to herself, and only listened as his footsteps hit hard wood as he climbed up into the gazebo after her.

"Cold's gonna set in real fast, Princess," he said, coming up to stand beside her. She glanced up, like a child, evaluating the situation.

"You don't have to call me that," she said, still swinging in the gray light left between sunset and night.

"What? Princess?" He glanced down at her, one of his thumbs sitting casually in his belt.

"Yeah," she responded.

"Fine. Cold's gonna set in real fast, _kiddo_."

She harrumphed slightly but acquiesced. She stood from the swing, stretched for a moment, and then stood beside him. He offered his arm, and she took it after only a moment's contemplation. She was held close at his side, and, as always, his eyes were alert and bright for any trouble that might arise.

Once they'd reached the warm hearth in the heart of the castle, DG realized just how right Cain had been. The breeze from the window was chill as ice. He left her at the fireplace to shut the window with all the finesse of an untrained bear. The Queen laughed her lovely, airy laugh that almost didn't exist. DG almost hadn't seen them all sitting there.

The long, luxuriant sofa held three beings—her mother on the far right, Ahamo on the far left, and Azkadellia seated between them. She had a small, pretty smile on her face, one that DG hoped to get reacquainted with very soon. The Queen clutched Az's hand tightly in her own, and all three were watching DG with softened, weary expressions. The day had been long for all of them.

On small ottomans by the fire sat Glitch—Ambrose, DG had to remind herself—and Raw. Both had been invited, along with Cain, to Finaqua to rest away the day's troubles and tension. They had all gratefully agreed. Cain had apparently asked his son to join them, but he had declined in favor of staying with his troops and caring for the casualties. Cain's eyes had been sad upon his return to the carriage, but he'd smiled politely and thanked the Queen again for her kindness.

His eyes had changed over the trip, however, and they were as bright as DG had ever seen them. He removed his hat in present company and sat on the rug before the fire, kindly refusing another stool offered by Ahamo.

"Hey," Glitch said as her eyes fell on him. He was smiling brightly. Her own smile in return was slightly sadder than she'd hoped. Without the proper equipment and surgeons, they couldn't yet return his brain to his zippered head. "Something wrong?"

"I don't think so," she replied as she took a seat between Glitch on his ottoman and Cain on the bare floor. She took a moment to warm her hands by holding them close to the fire.

"Here," Cain said, tired of watching her turn her hands over and over in attempts to warm them properly. He took both of her hands in his, completely enclosing them and trapping their heat together. Neither of them looked up, but their company did indeed take notice.

Glitch raised an eyebrow at the Queen, who, in turn, raised an eyebrow at Ahamo. The man shrugged his shoulders in a broad gesture, then turned and pointed to Glitch, as if he might have the answers. A smile slowly took Glitch's features, and he nodded in a minute way. He then not-so-subtly jerked his head in their direction and made a strange sign using both hands that no one could decipher.

Still warming DG's hands with his, Cain lowered an odd glare in Glitch's direction. "What're you doing?"

"Er," Glitch began, letting his hands drop off beside him. Raw chuckled lightly into his paws. "Thought I saw a bird?"

Cain simply shook his head, half smirking. He returned DG's hands to her, pulling his collar up around his neck in a nonchalant gesture. "That feel any better?"

DG moved her fingers in and out, trying to forget the residual feeling of Cain's hands imprinted on them. "Yeah." She flashed a smile up at him and returned to inspecting her hands. "Thanks."

"Well," Ahamo said, rising to his feet in a terrible imitation of a yawning stretch, "I think it's time for me to hit the hay."

"What, already?" DG asked, turning to face him, utterly shocked that they would separate.

"I had a long day of believing my daughters to be dead," Ahamo said, walking over and planting a kiss on her forehead. "We should all get some rest."

"I'll come with you," interjected Azkadellia, quickly catching on. She took her father's hand and stood off the sofa, joined by her mother in a move as soft and fluid as water.

"The bedrooms are only up the stairs and down the right-hand wing," the Queen said softly to the four still gathered around the fire. Glitch nodded enthusiastically, and Raw rose to bow as they exited the room. DG watched them go, but Glitch's hand on her shoulder stayed her.

"That's just a formality… I think." He smiled to erase any doubt. "The night is young, right? You just saved the world, DG!"

"With lots of help," she added, looking around at her friends. Cain smirked, turning his hat over in his hands.

"We couldn't have done it without you, DG," he said. "Sure, we might've been able to shut down the power in the Brain Room, but then what?" He sat up slightly straighter.

"DG saved Azkadellia," Raw said, nodding. "Raw couldn't do that."

"Me neither," Glitch added. "I would've glitched my way to an early grave, that's what would've happened."

All eyes fell on Cain, and a smile broke over his face as he watched DG. "I woulda shot her."

She found herself laughing despite the macabre subject. Glitch and Raw exchanged a glance. Glitch stood slowly, not as sudden as Ahamo had done, and hopefully not as terribly acted.

"You know, I forgot where the bedrooms are," Glitch said, and whether he was glitching or lying, only Raw knew.

"Raw will show you," he said, standing to meet the gangly man. He placed his paws on Glitch's shoulders and gently prodded him toward the door. "Be back soon," he said over his shoulder, assuring DG and Cain that they would not be left alone forever. Cain placed his hat back on his head as he watched them go, and then jerked a thumb in their direction.

"You need to go with them?"

"No," she said. "I know where my room is."

"Yeah, me too," Cain said after a moment of thought.

They sat in silence for far too long, long enough for even Glitch on his own to stumble into his room. And yet they remained.

All at once, DG said: "Cain—" But she was cut off.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said quickly, but his tone wasn't nearly as harsh as he'd hoped it would be. "Not yet anyways. With it all happening so fast back there… I didn't mean anything by it." He immediately regretted his wording, and he turned to wholly face her. "Well, you know what I mean."

She shook her head, her round eyes catching every flicker of the firelight. "Not really, no. A kiss is a kiss, Cain."

"Well…. Yeah," he admitted. His hands were hanging awkwardly, as if he wanted to do something with them. "Let's… just forget it ever happened, all right?" She liked the color his face had taken on during the course of the conversation, and she smiled as she dropped her eyes to her lap.

"Now you sound just like Toto," she murmured. After she allowed a pause to come between them, she continued. "How am I supposed to forget _that_?" She asked, looking back up at him, her head slightly cocked to one side. She could remember everything. She liked remembering. "We're just supposed to be friends?"

His eyes darted around the room, and his voice was slightly thin when he responded: "Yeah."

They continued their silence for another long, agonizing minute of not looking at each other. "Okay," she said at last. They met gazes again, and hers was defeated. "Whatever you say, Mr. Cain."

His eyebrows knit together at the look that welled behind her eyes, and he tried to ignore the hitch in her breath. He sighed, very slowly, and then reached his arm around her shoulders.

"C'mere, kiddo." He cinched her close against his side, his arm tight around her. They stared thoughtlessly into the fire, and without contestation, she leaned her head carefully to lean onto his shoulder. She could feel him breathing under her ear, hear his breath in and out of his lungs.

Blinking, she looked up to catch him watching her. Blue on blue, their eyes met and mingled in the air between them. The fire made shadows dance on her face, and the light caught in her eyes in a spectacular way. Unthinkingly, he brushed her bangs from her eyes to see them better. He smoothed his thumb carefully on the line they made across her forehead.

She caught his hand with hers and brought it down between them. "You know," she said, sitting up further on her knees to match his height. "We could _pretend_ to be friends."

He opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it, and shut it tightly to swallow the nervousness he suddenly found living there. "I don't know, DG."

"What if I kissed_ you_ this time?" she asked, her eyes unexpectedly close. "Not you pulling me into one of the little corners in Az's tower without even asking." She touched her nose to his, blinking very slowly.

She could see him red all the way to his eyebrows, and it made her smile. At last, he nodded, his eyes searching all over her face. "We could pretend to be friends," he repeated. He only had to lean forward one paltry inch to take her lips with his. She didn't have to think any further, and simply let her arms snake up around his neck to pull him even closer.

It was slower this time. When compared to the fevered way he'd kissed her in the quiet little alcove of Azkadellia's fortress, anything was going to be tame. But now, he meant it. He meant every little thing that he did. He meant the way he tucked her hair behind her ears, the way his fingers drew down her neck. He meant for her to shiver like that, and the way he smiled against her lips only proved it.

They cut off abruptly when a loud crashing noise sounded from just outside the doors to the sitting room. DG jumped and her hands clutched hard onto Cain's overcoat. His hand went instinctively around her and his other went to the gun at his hip.

After a tense moment, Cain rolled his eyes and groaned, shoving his gun back into its holster.

"You two are the _worst_ spies I've ever seen in my life," Cain said as he stood, helping DG to her feet to stand against his side. The door opened to reveal Glitch and Raw in the hallway beyond, the latter looking sheepish and the former rubbing his head in pain.

"I'd be better if I had more than half a brain," Glitch replied. He smiled through whatever pain he was in. "I used to be quite the sneak. Maybe."

"As slippery as you are," Cain said, not relinquishing the girl at his side, "I gotta say it's pretty rude to spy on _anyone_. Especially DG."

Raw only smiled, placing one hand on DG's shoulder as way of apology. "Very happy," he said, his gruff voice full of his own sort of joy. "Very warm on the inside. Wants to feel like this always."

"That's none of your business," Cain said, blushing again. DG could only laugh, stepping away from Cain only to make sure Glitch wasn't bleeding.

They caught eyes again from across the room, and Cain's lips pulled up in a soft smile. She mirrored him, very slowly. In the morning, it was back to pretending to be friends. The night, however, was still young.

* * *

AN: Hello again, all. It seems you just can't keep me away! Okay, what I was thinking with this was that it could easily be a continuance of the previous chapter, but I had been intending this to be a collection of drabbles, ficlets, what-have-you. So, I give y'all the option to take it however you like. I just wanna warn ahead of time that the chapters will not be in any specific order whatsoever, and will appear as they appear in my head. Hope it continues to live up to expectations, because WOW, that was one heckuva turn out! Thanks so much to everyone who read and to all the reviewers. You make my day! I bid you all keep reading and stay awesome! 


	3. Cain is not captured by Airofday

_In which Cain is not captured by Airofday._

When the net came down around his ears, everything went dull and black. His mind, usually sharp and clear, was suddenly muddled and full of chaos.

"I can't see!" His mind screamed. He must have said it aloud, for Glitch shouted something back in the affirmative. Maybe it'd been Glitch. There was no knowing in the sudden and inexplicable terror that seized him.

Then, he heard her scream. It was the second most gut-wrenching moment of his life when he heard DG scream and call out. She called out for help, for anyone. She called out for _him_.

"DG!" He cried back, fighting suddenly against the dark mesh net that had entangled them. She could only scream in return. Her voice was disappearing into the chaos, becoming more faint. Something terrible caught in his chest and froze him for an instant. "_DG_!!" He cried again, this time stronger. He battered away at the net, but the more he struggled, the more it seemed to tighten around him.

"Get them together," he could hear Airofday, the little traitoress, over the din of the suddenly active tavern. "They're worth more together. And don't kill them! Idiots…"

Cain grit his teeth, still struggling against the tug of the bounty hunters. Then, for some inexplicable reason, he swore he could hear DG's voice beside him.

_Can I borrow your razor_?

The day they'd met, when they'd rescued Raw from the Papay. Now frantic, Cain dug his hand into his vest. He wrenched it quickly out, and in the struggle to fight against the net and open his razor, the still-sharp blade bit into his finger. He swore, quite loudly, but dove suddenly into his work. He jammed the razor blade through the mesh net, and light poured in through the hole.

Cain gave a victorious laugh and began to saw away at the net. Airofday shouted something unintelligible to his ears. He was too focused to notice or to care. In an instant, the hole was big enough to fit his arm through. Just in time, as one of the woman's lackeys came into view. Cain threw his arm out of the hole and punched the man hard across the jaw. He fell, groaning. Cain wasted no time, and went back to work.

As soon as the hole was big enough for both arms, he stuck the razor between his clenched teeth, grabbed both sides of the hole and tore at it with all the strength in his arms. He gave a growl of frustration around the razor in his teeth, and all at once, the net rent before him.

He was out of the net before he had a chance to tell the others about the hole he had made. He was met by another lackey, and he swung out with a heavy arm. He joined his fellow on the ground, nursing what would become a black eye. Cain replaced his razor and whipped out his gun in the same move, searching the bar frantically.

"DG!!" he shouted, taxing his lungs. He could hear her faint cries from outside the pub. He took off in the direction her voice had come from—the back door he had failed to see. Airofday was standing in his way, her face a perpetual frown and her hands balled into fists. Her glared her down, baring his teeth. "I'd kill you if I had the time, lady."

That being said, he whipped the butt of his gun against her head and she fell with a screech. He turned back to the pub, pointing his gun at everyone at the same time. "Glitch, Raw, I'll be back!" He turned away toward the back door, cocking his gun. "I got a princess to save," he added to himself. He smirked at how heroic it sounded, then corrected himself and took off in a run out the back door.

He didn't seem to notice how many people were shoved out of his way or jumped aside just in time. He was following the sound of her frantic cries, as if she was all that his ears could hear. He dodged an oncoming rickshaw, keeping his hat against his head with his free hand.

"DG!" He called again. There was a shout of recognition from up ahead.

"Cain!" She shouted back in a high, frightened voice. That something terrible caught in his chest again, and it only spurred him on faster.

"DG, I'm coming!"

As he shoved a young couple out of his way, he saw The Seeker disappear into a back alley, a flailing DG over one shoulder. Cain smirked when he saw the girl kicking and beating her captor for all she was worth.

_That's my girl_.

He shook the thoughts away and tore off after them.

Cain's breath was heavy by the time he reached the bend in the alley, and he followed the sound of the girl's voice and The Seeker's pounding footsteps. He'd had just about enough. Just as The Seeker was bound to turn a corner, Cain popped off a direct shot right at the corner where The Seeker's head would have been. The man stopped cold in his tracks. Cain clicked the hammer back a second time, trying not to look as strained as he was.

"Put the girl down," Cain demanded.

DG suddenly stopped her beating of the man, and as The Seeker turned slowly to face Cain with both palms up in surrender, her head popped up to catch him in her sights as well.

She smiled at him as if he were a knight in shining armor. He didn't let the strange feeling in his chest affect his aim.

"You don't understand," The Seeker pleaded. Cain narrowed his eyes.

"I understand plenty," Cain growled. "Figure you can take the kid and get away with whatever you feel like doin' to her? I said put her _down_!" The last word was barked loudly, and it echoed up the high buildings and the earthen ceiling above.

The Seeker had no choice but to lower DG to the ground. She gave him an extra kick to the shin before she dashed quickly to Cain's side. Her momentum carried her into him, and together, they staggered slightly. His hand clasped around her waist to keep her steady against him. Her breath was just as shallow as his, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

"Hey," Cain said to get her attention as he looked down at her. "You all right?" She nodded in return, her face flushed from the activity.

"Yeah." She looked behind him to see if they were being followed. "Where is everyone else?"

"Back in the bar," Cain said, his sights never leaving The Seeker. "I came after you first." She blanked out for a moment, blinked swiftly to regain herself, and then turned with malicious eyes on her kidnapper.

"Who do you think you are?" DG shouted back at The Seeker, one of her hands clutching at Cain's overcoat, as if to make sure he was there to protect her. "Where I come from, people like you have vans!"

The Seeker visibly sighed, his hands still up in surrender. At last, in as small a voice he could manage, he said only two words: "I'm Ahamo."

Cain only glared harder. "You think you're real smart, don't you?"

"DG, I'm your father," he said quickly before Cain could interrupt.

This caused Cain's mouth to cement itself shut on the instant. DG's jaw dropped. They had never mentioned DG's relationship to Ahamo to anyone in the Realm. Cain's eyes flicked momentarily down to DG, who was staring at the man in complete bewilderment.

"My father?" She asked again, for clarification.

"DG, there was no time to explain in the bar," The Seeker—perhaps Ahamo—replied, holding his hands out before him pleadingly. He took a step forward, but Cain was quick to point the barrel of the gun directly at the man's chest.

"Hold it," Cain ordered. The man stopped moving accordingly. "What d'you think, kiddo?" Cain asked, not taking his eyes from the man.

"I don't know," DG admitted. "I don't think I even remember what my father looked like."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, instead gripped her slightly tighter about the waist for encouragement. "Think you could _try_?"

She nodded, pressing her lips together in thought, and closed her eyes. Cain shifted nervously to his other foot, keeping his gun trained on the man claiming to be DG's father. Luckily, the man made no move whatsoever. His eyes were locked on DG.

At last, she gasped and her eyes flew open. She blinked a few times, looking straight at The Seeker. Her eyes were slightly confused, but soft. "Dad?"

The man's smile brightened instantly. "DG," he returned, and something broke in his voice. It was at that moment that Cain lowered his gun slowly to his side. He knew the look in the man's eyes. He knew it very, very well. The longing to hold your child in your arms one more time, to know that they were never really gone. He holstered his gun and moved his hand from DG's waist to her shoulder.

"That's him," he muttered.

She blinked up at the man holding her close, seeing the same broken sort of look behind his own eyes. He nodded only minutely in Ahamo's direction—definitely Ahamo now.

At the same moment, there came a crashing and a series of cries from the direction of the bar they had left behind. All three spun to face the mouth of the alley with the same look of worry suddenly etched on their features.

"Glitch," DG uttered in a strained voice. She moved to rush out of the alley, but Cain grabbed her hand and pulled her back to hide her flat against the wall just as a brigade of Longcoats stomped by.

"Damn," Cain muttered. "I bet you anything they're here for us, back in that bar."

"What do we do?" DG asked quietly.

"The double eclipse is coming," Ahamo said suddenly, "and fast. DG, you're the key to the emerald."

"I can't just leave my friends," DG protested.

"Hey," Cain said to get their attention. "I'll go after them. You go with your father."

"Wait, Cain," she began to argue, but Cain cut her off quickly.

"You have more important things to do than worry about a couple of misfits," he told her. "I promise that I'll look after them for you."

"Who's gonna look out for me?" She asked suddenly. Cain's mouth opened only slightly, and he was surprised to find that no words came out. "You came after me, Cain." Something in her voice wobbled, but she was quick to hide it.

"I'm still looking out for you, Princess," he said in a voice softer than she could ever remember him using.

She screwed her face up in determination and seized both sides of his face in her hands. All she was allowed was one quick, warm kiss to his lips before she pulled away and moved swiftly off toward her father. Her hand slipped out of his like water, and his arm fell dead and useless to his side. His mouth tried to form words, and he was sure that he looked like a fish out of water. She turned to look back only once as she took her father's hand.

Eyes met in an electrifying moment when everything seemed to come together for the both of them. That something terrible in his chest unknotted perfectly and disappeared. She smiled, so sadly, and she was gone.

Cain tore his eyes away from the space she'd occupied with her father, something else now stuck somewhere in his chest; something new and something old at the same time. He tried his best to ignore it.

He waited until the next line of Longcoats passed by before he dashed out of the alley and back into the crowd of the Unwanted. He was going to find Glitch and Raw, and he was going to take out every single Longcoat that stood in his way. He had a promise to keep to his princess. With the feel of her lips on his, still warm and surging through him, Cain felt like he could do anything. He was invincible.

* * *

AN: Woo! You guys are really awesome for all the love you're giving me (and CainDG!). Reviews make my heart warm and fuzzy! This was an idea that came to me last night--Cain had the razor, so why not use it other than to kill that one Longcoat in the end? But I also didn't want to change the direction of the story much, so this way, Cain will still find Jeb (perhaps take down the Longcoats together?!) and all that good stuff. Woo again! I've already got an idea for another chapter (what is wrong with me??) so hopefully that'll be up soon! Thanks much, again, and stay awesome!! 


	4. Cain rides to the rescue

_In which Cain rides to the rescue and dislocates a shoulder._

He knew Toto's bark anywhere. Glitch only proved it by shouting the dog's name in surprise as he stood. Cain was quick to stand between Glitch and Raw to stare down at the ragged little dog that had appeared out of the thick grasses. Though he was panting furiously, he managed to shapeshift into his human form. He seemed just as worn, but he was quick to his words.

"I can take you to DG," he said with no introduction. Cain's back stiffened instantly. "She's in trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" Glitch asked. Cain didn't get to hear the answer. He was running back for camp with long, purposed strides. He skidded to a halt near his son, who was still helping pack the things away. Jeb looked up sharply as his father arrived, his eyes mostly white. He took his son's shoulder in his hand and gripped firmly.

"Father? What's wrong? I thought you were setting out."

"I gotta set out fast, Jeb. Real fast."

Jeb paused only a second. "It's DG, isn't it?"

Cain only nodded in return. Jeb stuck his fingers into his mouth and whistled to get the attention of his men.

"Horses! I need three, on the double!" he called. The men scrambled to follow orders. Three separate men led horses to their side. Glitch and Raw appeared in camp, also looking suddenly frantic. Tutor followed, looking haggard but determined.

"What's the news?" Cain asked, taking the reigns of a pretty white horse.

"No sign of The Seeker," Glitch answered, looking even more pale than usual. "And something about magic doors."

"The doors to the Gray Gale," Tutor wheezed. "DG's in there, with no way of getting back out."

"Azkadellia?" Cain asked, watching Glitch and Raw choose their own horses.

Tudor nodded. "Her vile scent is all over the place. Come on now, we don't have any time to waste."

As Tutor shapeshifted back into a dog, Cain looked up at the sky. The suns were dangerously close to their peak.

Just before Cain climbed onto the horse, he turned to Jeb, who was still at his side. His son simply nodded. "I know. Go find her. We'll meet you at the tower."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Cain said, daring a smile over his shoulder. He gripped his son's shoulder fiercely in thanks, and climbed up into the horse's saddle. Toto barked and took off into the brush. Cain didn't wait to see if Glitch and Raw were horsed. He flicked the reigns hard and dug his heels into the horse's side. It whinnied loudly and took off after the small dog, which was running at full speed.

The wilderness seemed to pass like a dream. Cain wasn't even paying it any attention. He was leaning full forward on the horse, as if willing it to move faster. He never lost sight of the dog that, though weary from breakneck travel, never slowed. There was only one thing on his mind: DG. Every possible terrible scenario played through over and over in his head.

As if it had any meaning at all, he thought only one thing and willed it to her: _Don't die, DG. You're not allowed to die._

To show his urgency, he kicked the horse in the ribs again, calling for it to go faster. Toto barked in return. He scuffled up a slope, and Cain looked up to see a large balloon floating just above the ground, lazy in the light breeze. Toto reappeared when the three horses crested the hill. Cain jumped off of the horse, ignoring the pain the crept up his right ankle.

"DG!" Cain called out. At the same moment, Glitch and Raw dismounted their own horses, looking about in worry. Cain grabbed the gun from his holster, just to be on the safe side. Toto barked once and took off in a scurry up another hill. Cain ran after him.

By the time all three of them reached the hill, Toto was Tutor again, and staring sadly at a piece of forest. Cain furrowed his brows deeply and took a tentative step forward. As soon as his viewpoint changed, a pair of glowing, translucent doors took shape out of nothingness. Cain's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he took quick steps to stand in front of the door.

"What do we do?" Glitch asked, looking frantically from Tutor to the doors.

"I don't know," Tutor admitted, defeat sagging on his face. "She used her magic to get inside, and I just can't figure out how to open them back up."

Cain's hand shot out and grabbed the man by the collar, wrenching him close. "You better find out." He eyed the man up and down. "You taught DG magic, why don't you just use it on the door?"

"It's not the same kind of thing," Tutor said, too weary to contest Cain's grip on his collar.

"Put the pooch down, Cain," Glitch said carefully. "Smacking him around isn't gonna fix anything."

"Yeah, but it'd feel good," Cain growled back.

In the silence following there came a noise that could only have come from within the doors. It was a high, sorrowful, painful moan of terror. Cain's fingers slipped from around Tutor's collar, and the other man backed off before Cain could grab him again. Cain shifted his eyes to the door, wide and suddenly full of an almost childlike fear.

"DG!" He shouted at the doors.

From inside, though muffled and barely audible, there came a line of high sobs that could only have been her. Cain forgot all about Tutor. He forgot all about the doors opening only through the touch of royal magic. She'd cleared his mind of everything but the haunting, echoing sound of a terrified girl locked in a world full of death.

"DG!!" He cried again. All at once he was upon the doors, his fist pounding at it over and over, harder each time he pulled back to take another swing. He latched onto the handle, pulled hard for a long moment before changing tactics and throwing his shoulder violently against the door. For something that looked so fluid and evanescent, it felt cold and hard against his shoulder.

"It's no use—" Tutor tried to say.

"Shut up," he commanded, not looking at anything but the doors. He pulled back and rammed his shoulder against the doors a second time. "DG!!"

Glitch and Raw exchanged a sad, empty glance, and Raw's head sank in defeat. "Cain…" Glitch began. The Tin Man only shook his head, jamming his shoulder against the door again.

"No," he growled through clenched teeth. "The man wouldn't have brought us if he didn't think we could help." Again, his shoulder met with the door, and he cut off a painful shout by biting his lip. He threw himself once more at the double doors, and as his shoulder met the deceivingly hard doors, pain surged up and down his arm and across his chest from the impact. He fell to his knees before the door, clutching his shoulder, and he gave a loud, growling cry of frustration.

The noise gave way to silence as Cain hissed his way through the last of the throbbing pain. His fist fell useless against the door, and once there, turned a flat palm against the flat of the door. He simply knelt there before the door for some time, breathing in and out and not saying a word. Raw stepped forward to place a hand on his shoulder, but Glitch held him back.

All at once, Cain stood to his full height, his coat rustling around him as he cradled his shoulder with his opposite hand. In the near dead silence, everyone could hear the words that Cain had meant only for himself.

"I'm not losing her," he hissed sharply, steeling himself and setting his jaw fiercely. He took two steps back from the door, and before Raw could reach out to stop him, Cain took a run at the door, baring his shoulder forward to take the blow again.

Miraculously, as he charged at the doors, they swung inward without so much as a noise before he even touched them. Cain, surprised by the lack of impact, lost his footing and fell inward onto the hard marble tile of the cavernous room inside. His head shot up in amazement to stare at the three men staring at him from outside the door. Cain cursed at the pain flaring up anew through his arm, but Glitch pulled him to his feet using the other arm, thankfully.

He wasted no time marveling over the open doors, cupping his hands around his mouth to call out: "DG!!"

There was a sharp, surprised and muffled cry from nearby, and suddenly the room was filled with hollow banging and shouts. Cain's head turned and locked on a massive green marble sarcophagus. His heart quailed for only a moment, but something deeper than that willed him on.

"Come on, help me with these screws!" Cain shouted, waving his arm to gather the other three around the coffin. "We're coming, DG!" He shouted once he was standing over the marble edifice. "All right, come on!" He said once they'd all got their hands around the gargantuan screws.

Cain ignored the pain his shoulder and arm as he gripped the screw in both hands as tightly as he could manage. The others struggled and grunted with their own burdens, and he could hear the girl trapped inside, banging her fists on the stone lid. Finally, the screw budged and squealed at the sudden movement. He twisted it out quickly, his own breath short. Glitch cried out in triumph once he had conquered his own screw, and soon, all four clattered to the ground with a satisfying chorus of clangs.

"Okay, now push!" Cain ordered, his hands on the lip of the lid. All four of them grabbed hold. "NOW!" They threw all their weight against the heavy lid and, with a loud scraping, it began to move. Raw roared victoriously. One pale hand rose up through the crack they had opened, and then a second. Cain shoved with as much strength as he had left, and the crack widened just enough. DG's pale face rose out of the sarcophagus, her hands clutching the edge until her knuckles were white.

Without warning, she threw her arms around the nearest neck, which happened to be Cain's. She was hardly breathing from the fright, and she shook all over. He didn't say a word as he pulled her out from inside. Her legs were quivering too hard to hold her up, and they both sank to the ground beside the coffin. He held her close against him, chest to chest, her arms tight around his neck. She trembled like a baby animal in his grip.

"I got you, DG," he said near her ear. "I got you."

A pent up sob jolted through her, but she held the others in as well as she could. "I was so scared."

"I'm not going anywhere," he assured her, smoothing her hair comfortingly. Her chest tightened twice, and she sniffled the tears away, no matter how much they wanted to come. She pulled back only slightly to stare him straight in the eye.

"How'd you get in?" She asked in a watery voice. "Az locked the door—" She looked away to the door and caught Glitch, Raw and Tutor in her gaze. A smile grew on Glitch's face, and a sob mixed with a laugh escaped her at the sight.

"I don't know," Cain admitted once she'd returned her eyes to him. "They just opened. Nearly dislocated my shoulder first, but they opened." He tried to smile, but her lip only quavered. Her fingers were light on his wounded shoulder.

"I was so scared," she said again, looking painfully at his shoulder. "I thought I heard you outside—" Her voice hitched, but she lowered her eyebrows determinedly and continued, "—and all I could think about was the last time I saw you. And… and I heard you calling out for me, just like I heard you back at the bar, and I wanted to call back, but you couldn't hear me." She leaned her head sadly forward, pressing it softly against his forehead. She shook again, and Cain gripped her upper arm firmly. "All I could think about," she said again once her voice was steady, "was you breaking in those doors and saving me."

Her eyes searched his, and neither said a word.

"DG," Tutor said at last, as if a revelation had come over him, "_you_ opened the doors for Mr. Cain. Your magic is stronger than either of us knew."

She smiled at last, somewhat sheepishly. She realized that his hand was still smoothing her hair, and she found that she didn't mind. Cain's lips twitched up, only slightly, but it was enough for her.

He tilted his head slightly to kiss her warmly in the center of her forehead and held both sides of her face gently in his hands.

"Thought I lost you there, kiddo," he said quietly. He was hoping that it was quiet enough just for her, but words echoed in the tall room around them. Something strong returned to her eyes, and she was suddenly the DG that he remembered.

"I'm not going anywhere," she assured him.

She held tightly to his hand as they moved quickly back to the horses; as she explained about her father, Azkadellia, and the emerald, their hands never parted.

* * *

AN: Well, ah, hello there! Fancy meeting you here! This has become something of a regular thing, hasn't it? Not sure I can always promise this kind of fast posting, but I'll keep up whatever pace my brain makes me write at. :) This one doesn't have lip-locking, but I wrote what I felt the scene needed. Also, this scenario was suggested by the Anime Fan Team, so I hope y'all like! As always, I have another scenelet in my head for the next chapter, so it'll hopefully be up soonish. Thanks for all your support so far, guys. This is crazy awesome! Oh, yeah, and before I forget, you all have to remember to stay awesome!!

**PS -** there's a whole section just for Tin Man now, in case some people haven't noticed. If there's some Tin Man fiction in another section, I'd suggest writing a review (cuz we love reviews) and mentioning a move to the new section. It's gonna rock, guys!


	5. DG nearly drowns Wyatt Cain

_In which DG nearly drowns Wyatt Cain._

"Concentrate, DG. Let the light flow through you."

She sighed through her nose, rolling her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that day. That _hour_, even.

"I get it," she said over her shoulder. Tutor stood several feet behind her, and he crossed his arms impatiently at the tone in her voice. "I'm sorry, it's just… you've said that about a hundred times too many."

"Maybe he needs a dictionary," Cain muttered, plucking the head off of a tall blade of seeding grass. He inspected it minutely, as if its presence mattered, and then he offered a grin in DG's direction. He flicked the seeds into the wind and stuck his hands into his pockets, for lack of anything better to do. "That was funny, right?"

"We'll work on it," DG said, a smile flickering on her face. She squared her shoulders, turned toward the lake once again, and sighed all of the tension out of her. "Let the light flow."

The reflection of the twin suns above flickered and dappled on the lapping water of the lake nearby. The pretty gazebo threw a shadow across DG's practice area, and her mother sat quietly in the swing, a book in hand. The castle stood silent in the background. The air was clean and filled with the promise of later rain.

"All right, light," DG prompted, coaxing a chuckle from Cain's direction as he inspected the grass disinterestedly, "let's do this."

She closed her eyes and focused. The tips of her fingertips began to tingle with a warm sensation she had finally become familiar with. Once she was ready, she opened her eyes and held her hand out in her mother's direction. As if a wind had gusted only through the gazebo, all the pages of the Queen's book fluttered by at great speed, and the book snapped shut in her hand.

The Queen jolted at the sudden interruption, holding a hand to her chest in surprise, and looked up at her daughter. DG was smiling innocuously, her hands clutched behind her back in an imitation of childhood innocence.

"DG," the Queen breathed, an airy smile coming to her lips. "Next time, warn me, won't you?"

"Well, that takes the surprise out of it," DG countered. Tutor shook his head with a sigh, and the Queen laughed.

"I would appreciate you using another target, DG," the Queen said, "although I _am_ proud that you've managed to lose my place completely."

"Sorry," DG muttered sheepishly.

She turned back to face the lake and her Tutor. His arms were still crossed over his chest, but at least he wasn't frowning. One thing she definitely remembered was the way Tutor's mouth would turn down and that little line would appear between his eyebrows. As much as she had hated practicing, she hated disappointing the Tutor even more.

As if to prove that she was taking him a little seriously, she concentrated her magic in the tips of her fingers again. Tutor nodded approvingly.

Without a word of warning, DG pointed directly at Wyatt Cain, who had been watching as he stood near the lake. His hat flew suddenly off the top of his head as if snatched by an invisible mobat. Cain's hands flew up to feel his exposed head and whipped around to watch his hat sail over the lake and land several yards out like a downy feather. Cain was still pawing at his head when he turned back to face DG, his mouth slightly ajar.

DG laughed brightly at his expression, which only made him press his lips into a thin white line and snatch his hand back down to his side.

"That's my favorite hat," he said despondently, staring at it over the shimmering water.

"That's your _only_ hat," DG corrected.

"That too," Cain muttered. He stood at the edge of the lake, clutching his fists into balls and releasing them, repeatedly. He turned to face her sideways, looking concerned. "Could you get it back?"

Tutor gave DG an odd look, as if he could read her thoughts. He began to shake his head, but DG spoke faster than him.

"I've got a better idea." A pretty, mischievous smile stole her lips. She circled her hands slightly, feeling warmth jump to her fingertips and fill her hands and arms and head. "Why don't you get it yourself?"

He had no chance. She pointed both hands at him, and, as if pushed by a bully five times bigger than him, Cain was shoved several yards over the water and fell in with a tremendous splash near his hat. It bobbed gently at the surface but didn't follow its owner under. Tutor jumped, and the Queen was suddenly on her feet, book forgotten.

"DG, do you have any idea how deep it is out there?" Tutor asked incredulously.

She couldn't stop laughing. "He's fine. It's only a couple feet out."

Cain's head popped up out of the water and took a loud gasp for air, his arms flailing. He only had time to burble something unintelligent before he disappeared under the water again. DG's laugher petered out very quickly.

"Guess it's farther out than I thought," she said, hoping that Mr. Cain was just playing some sort of joke on her.

In response, only Cain's hand shot up out of the water the second time he tried to resurface, and it, too, disappeared.

DG's face went pale and all the warmth left her in an instant. "Cain!!"

She shoved past Tutor before he could say anything. She tore off her jacket as she went, leaving it on the shore. Her shoes were kicked off in an instant, leaving only her white socks. She ran into the shallows, splashing as she went. She stood stock still there for a moment, tensed and ready. "Cain!" She shouted again, just to let him know that if this was a joke, it was most definitely not funny anymore. There was no response.

"DG!" The Queen called, but it was too late for those still on the shore to do anything.

The girl took an enormous gulp of air, flexed her arms once, and dove into the chilly water. Her first thought was that it was freezing, despite the temperate day above water. The second thought was on how beautifully clear the waters were. She surfaced at once and kicked and stroked her way to the bobbing hat. The bottom was long gone, and although they were still close, she couldn't hear the calls from her mother and tutor on the shore. She was too scared, too focused. She took another deep breath and plunged down again.

The light shone through the surface and the water was crystalline and clear. When DG opened her eyes, she made out the slowly sinking form of the Tin Man, and she almost made the mistake of gasping. She kicked herself further down as quickly as she could, arms reaching out as she swam further and further. Tutor had been right; the lake looked so shallow from the shore, but only a few feet out, there was a tremendous and unexpected drop-off.

DG's fingers reached for Cain's outstretched hand. She brushed his hand once, reached harder, and finally clasped on. Warmth spread up and down her arm and filled her chest.

_Concentrate, DG._ She kicked her legs to resurface, but Cain's dead weight held her firmly in place. _Let the light flow through you._ She shut her eyes tightly, focusing as hard as she was able to with her lungs clamoring for air. Something bright bubbled up in her chest and spread throughout her body. She suddenly felt strong and fast and able, as if her whole body was glowing and pulsing.

Her hand squeezed Cain's, and that was all she needed. With the new energy flowing through her, she pulled Cain up into her arms and swam doggedly for the surface. It felt like only an instant before her head burst through the watery ceiling and she took a full gasp of air.

She pulled Cain along with her, and he made no effort to help. She couldn't see his face, but she hoped to God—or whomever they prayed to in the O.Z.—that it wasn't turning blue. The closest bit of shore was further away from her mother and Tutor than she realized, but she didn't have time to change direction. The latter was already rushing toward their position as fast as a man in his condition could scuttle.

All on her own, DG pulled Cain out of the water and onto the shore. He didn't move or respond to her voice when she called to him. Her hands shook as she knelt beside him, looking into the unresponsive face of the Tin Man.

"Oh, God, let me remember First Aid class…" Before she had time to think about it, she had pinched Cain's nose shut, tilted his chin back and applied her mouth to his. She breathed once into him, pulled back, then did so again. Her hands fluttered nervously over his chest, and she placed one on top of the other to compress his chest down thrice. She had no idea if her procedure was the proper one; the terrible idea that she might be doing more damage than good seared through her heart.

She leaned her ear down to his mouth to listen for breathing. Nothing. She held his nose shut again and let her breath flow into him for the third time.

Suddenly, his chest seized under her fingertips and she barely had time to pull her face back from his before he balled up and coughed water from his lungs. He curled up on his side, coughing and groaning, but best of all, breathing. He pulled a few, long breaths into his lungs before collapsing onto his back in exhaustion.

He did not get any time to relax, however. DG took his face in both of her hands, inspecting him with intense, tear-filled eyes. "I'm sorry," she said quickly, her voice hitching. "I didn't mean—I didn't know you couldn't—Glitch told me he found you on shore, and—Cain, I'm so sorry."

He didn't speak, his chest heaving with thankful, heavy breaths. He only stared, nonplussed, up at the girl taking up his vision. She bit her lip, tears threatening to spill over. He blinked a few times, wet and cold and alive, then shuddered through his whole body. "You tried to kill me," he said with a strangely coarse voice.

DG had been ready for it, but it was still a blow. Tutor arrived finally, skidding to a halt behind her, his own breathing hard. The Queen was only a moment later than he, and both looked worried and pale.

All three were surprised when Cain leaned up ever so slightly to pull a single, lingering kiss from her. He retreated only to cough any remaining water from his lungs into his arm. He caught DG's eyes after catching his breath.

"You saved my life."

DG's look of confusion and surprise turned suddenly into a smile just for him. She took his face in her hands a second time and pulled them together again. She let this kiss last longer, getting to know his lips no matter how cold and wet the both of them were.

"DG?" Tutor asked at last, his brow pulled down concernedly.

The girl held up one finger and continued to kiss Wyatt Cain. She whispered further words of apology, but he silenced her quickly. She could only agree. She had, after all, nearly killed him. She owed him that much.

* * *

AN: Hello folks, fancy meeting you here! To explain: someone mentioned that there was an awful lot of Cain saving DG, and pondered on switching the formula around. I decided that they were right, and I should make Cain the damsel-in-distress. DG also gets to use her magic, for those who missed it in the last chapter. It's not my favorite, although I rather like the beginning. If anyone else has suggestions they'd like to see in further chapters, lemme know. (I'm not fishing for ideas just yet, but I'd like to see what you guys would... like to see) Don't be afraid to be honest, my heart can take it! Thanks for reading so far, guys, and stay awesome! 


	6. The ending is slightly different

_In which the ending is slightly different._

His shoulder stung, and he was bleeding all over his favorite coat. Cain ambled over to Glitch, laying a hand on his shoulder to be sure he was all right. Glitch nodded, slightly breathless and leaning on the brain containment device. Raw cradled the young Kalm in comfort, whispering something in the language of the viewers. Cain caught his eyes as he looked up and flashed a questioning 'thumbs-up' sign. Raw nodded, looked at his paw, and gave his own awkward return of the sign.

Cain lowered his arm and hissed at the pain the bullet wound was causing him. Glitch looked at him and gasped. "You got shot!"

"Yeah," Cain grumbled. "You were right there when it happened."

"I was?" Glitch looked down at the spot on the floor he was occupying. "Huh."

Cain patted Glitch twice on the back. "Good job, Zipperhead. Just in case you forgot, we couldn't have done it without you."

"Now that's absurd," Glitch said with a cocky turn of his head. "No one forgets being a hero."

Cain allowed a gruff little laugh. The smile dropped off his face as he looked straight up to the ceiling, wishing he could see through solid stone and metal to the balcony. He needed to know what had happened. They'd shut down the lights and powered down the machine, but that didn't mean a lick of difference if DG didn't manage to save her sister. Or worse, Cain thought with a catch in his throat, if she didn't even get the chance.

"Let's go," he said quickly. He leaned down, picked his razor out of the dead man's back and stuck it into his vest.

"Where are we going?" Glitch asked, looking longingly over his shoulder as he left his brain behind. Raw followed, and Kalm split off from him to run off down an adjacent hallway.

"Raw?" Cain asked, turning to look after the viewer child.

"Kalm goes to set others free," Raw replied. "Strong boy, brave boy. Kalm know what to do."

"All right," Cain said, checking to be sure he had his gun. "Do you know where the balcony is? The output for the beam of light?"

Raw thought hard for a moment, closing his eyes. "Many floors up. All quiet and dark now. Raw cannot see DG or the witch."

Cain nodded as firmly as he could, and, despite the pain crawling through his shoulder and arm, he rushed forward to find the stairs—any stairs, anything that would take him up. Up was where he needed to be.

"Dammit, Cain," he muttered under his breath, "you're an idiot." He said nothing further to himself, as if he deserved the obscurity. "There!" He spotted an engineer's ladder in the generator room, conveniently located near the brain room. He lamented the fact that he would have to climb with the bullet wound, but the cause was well worth it.

He threw everything he had into pulling himself up, hand over hand and foot over foot. Glitch and Raw followed closely, keeping pace with the injured Tin Man rather well. He was breathing heavily by the time he reached the top of the ladder. The wind outside was swirling, and he could feel it buffering against him. He turned the corner, and there was the balcony. It was dark and empty, just as Raw had said.

Something terrible decided to lodge itself in Cain's throat. "DG!" He called, dashing forward to look over the edge. The fall was dizzyingly high, and he pulled quickly back before he could get lost in the spiral of vertigo.

Glitch stepped forward from around the corner and instantly pulled back with a sharp yell. "What is _that_?" He asked, pointing at a viscous black liquid that seemed to be seeping from the central dais. Raw knelt down to inspect it, baring his teeth in disgust.

"Evil. Darkness. Smells of the witch."

"That's good, right?" Glitch asked as Cain turned slowly away from the banister of the balcony. "That means she's gone?"

"Yeah," Cain said absently, staring down at the black goop. "But her and who else?"

"DG?" Glitch asked, his face going suddenly pale.

"I don't know," Cain admitted, looking drawn and worried. "Raw?"

The viewer closed his eyes and held his hands out, palms up. "Can't feel DG here. Her light… somewhere else."

"She's alive," Cain breathed in instant relief. "Raw, where is she?"

"Can't tell." He shook his head sadly. "Can't tell."

Suddenly, Cain's ears picked up the sound of a door down the hall from the balcony opening and closing. Before either of the others could say a word, Cain took off in a run toward the sound. He was forced to slow by the bullet in his shoulder, and Raw and Glitch quickly caught up with him. Raw's paw descended on Cain's shoulder, and in only a moment, the pain had lessened. Together, the three of them limped exhaustedly toward the door that now hung slightly ajar.

They didn't bother knocking. All three entered at once, the door opening wide. The first image that assaulted Cain was that of four people caught in a long embrace. Two fair-haired adults and two dark-haired youngers. The door clanked as it swung open, and at once, DG's head shot up from the embrace.

Cain smiled. Damn his inhibitions, the smile came wide and full to his face. She was alive, and she had won. She'd done it without him, all for herself. Raw patted Cain's injured shoulder gently, and Cain nodded his thanks, his eyes still on DG. The three broke apart from one another, and DG rushed over to meet them.

She came first to Glitch. The first she had met, her first and fastest friend of the O.Z. He met her halfway and caught her with an embrace strong even by his standards. Cain could see the happiness fill Glitch's face—even with half a brain, the man knew how strong friendship was, and that DG was someone that he could never forget.

Next, she went to Raw. He spared the formality and scooped her up in his arms. She gave a short squeak of delight and hugged him back fiercely. He had come so far from the frightened future meal for the papay—he was assertive and strong in the way he showed his affection for the girl that had saved his life and given him courage.

She took the next step to stand before Cain. She smiled brightly, full of life and light. Her blue eyes were sparkling with the aftermath of victory and reunion, and Cain felt his mouth fall slightly ajar at the sight of her. She opened her arms wide for him, ready to hold him tightly against her in a chaste embrace between friends.

_Screw that_, Cain thought suddenly.

His hands fit against the sides of her face just perfectly, and as her momentum carried her forward into him, he cinched them together at the lips. She gasped slightly at the suddenness, but he didn't let her go. He couldn't let her go. It was impossible from that point forward. He ignored the vocal exclamations from the queen and her husband, as well as a low whistle from Glitch. All of his attention was focused on the girl—no,_woman_—in his arms.

All the tension slipped from her in barely an instant, and the arms that had been thrown wide for an embrace anchored themselves on his chest, grabbing at the lapels of his overcoat and pulling him further down against her lips. She offered him a contented little purr and complimented the movement of his lips with her own. He didn't think any further than that, and reaction and instinct took over.

His hands moved from her face to her waist, wrapping her closer to him, flush up against one another. Taking a page Raw's book, Cain hitched DG up in his arms until her feet left the ground. She kicked them up behind her in a girlish way that made him smile against her lips. He took the opportunity to open her mouth by using his own and acquainted himself with her tongue.

"DG, you're missing it!" Azkadellia called, unsure of whether to watch the suns emerging from behind the moon, or the rather blatant display of affection between her sister and the Tin Man. Mother and father watched slack-jawed as Wyatt Cain sifted his hands through DG's hair, down her shoulders and back. Sunlight slowly filled the room, lighting them up in a golden, dappling light.

He was the first to pull back for a well-deserved breath. In the close quarters, blue eyes watched blue. A long sigh escaped him, and he rested his forehead on hers, his arms still tight around her middle. Then, DG's smile lit up her face, even more bright and beautiful than the suns outside, and just as slowly.

"Why don't you tell me how you _really_ feel?" she asked in a soft voice.

After only a moment, he laughed. It was careful, unsure of how exactly to laugh when he hadn't in so many years. She joined him, her eyes scrunching up pleasantly. They caught one another in a tight embrace, and both refused to let the other go. Not when so much had happened. Not while they were both still alive.

Glitch broke the silence at last, his eyebrows nearly touching his hairline. "Wow," was all he said. Raw could only nod in the affirmative.

She kissed him soundly once more. _This_ was the O.Z. she wanted to remember.

* * *

AN: Hey guys! Just a short little ficlet for this adventure. I thought we needed not only an explanation of how Our Heroes found DG in the first place, and also to change the ending. Only a little! They're just slightly making out! Did anyone else think that, while watching, when she went in to hug Cain at the end they were gonna kiss? Cuz I did... So, that's the inspiration for this! Tell me what you think, leave something if you have an idea you think I should add, or just leave some love! Thanks much for reading, and STAY AWESOME!! 


	7. DG proposes and Cain spills his coffee

_In which DG proposes and Cain spills his coffee._

DG found the breakfast nook to be the smallest room in the castle at Finaqua. This, of course, was not saying much. It was just off of the enormous kitchens, which housed only three full-time cooks in the transitory weeks after Azkadellia's ceding of power to her mother. This was, however, enough to care for the family of four and the occasional guest that decided to drop in on them. And not-so-occasional guests. And rather-frequent-guests. And then there was Wyatt Cain.

For reasons unknown, Cain always seemed to be somewhere in the castle. DG had searched for his room or any indication that he was sleeping within the walls, but he must have lived like a ghost, for he left no trace. He would be seen talking with the Queen one afternoon, his hat removed in respect, and later she might find him sitting in a chair by the fireplace as if waiting for her. They'd talked quite a lot in the weeks gone by, in quiet voices by the fire and laughter by the shore of the lake. She'd stolen his hat once, and he'd chased her up a tree to get it back.

Sometimes Jeb would stop in to see his father, looking bright and clean and happy; she was glad for him, that, while his mother could never be brought back, he had found the missing half of his family and a reason to live his life again. He would smile and wave as DG walked past, and Cain would nudge him in the side to regain his attention. DG might pull the boy aside—he was remarkably like his father, especially in the eyes and the way he always kept eye contact when she spoke to him—to ask what his father was up to. He would shrug, mention something about duty, and politely accept her embrace.

DG walked into the breakfast nook that morning with the intent to grab a light breakfast and snuggle back down into the warm covers of her bed. She could smell warm, aromatic coffee from the door to the kitchen, a smell she associated with the early-morning routine of her father. The window of the nook was open, letting the summer morning breeze blow in the scent of lavender and early dew in the long grass. She held a leather-bound book in one hand and pulled out a chair at the breakfast table for herself with the other. She set the book quietly on the table and tiptoed in bare feet across the room to peek into the kitchen.

She stepped back quickly as the door opened toward her. Bright blue eyes turned out of the door to meet hers, slightly closer than normal. The door shut on its own behind him, and he took a careful step backward.

"Morning, Princess," Cain said, looking remarkably awake for the hour. The sun had barely risen outside the open window. DG blinked the sleep from her eyes, narrowed them, and then lowered her gaze to Cain's hands. He held two mugs of steaming hot coffee. "You look like you'll need this," he told her, pressing one gently into her hand. He took three steps past her and pulled out the chair opposite hers to take a seat.

DG watched the back of head for a long moment, as if he might grow a second one. He took a sip of the hot coffee left in his hand and sighed.

"Did you… know I was coming?" she asked, looking back to the kitchen door, then to the seated Tin Man.

"You're a little early," he admitted, his short smirk coming to grace his face. "So the coffee's a little hot."

"Yeah," she muttered, and she took her seat across the table from him. She set the mug down carefully and scooted away from her with a wary eye. "I was gonna grab something to eat and get back to bed."

Cain applied the mug to his lips and took a short drink. "The cooks aren't up yet."

"Figures." She leaned heavily on her hand with a sigh. Her eyes flicked from her steaming coffee to the man across from him. He was leaned back in his chair, one leg crossed over the other at the knee, and completely at home. He wasn't wearing his hat, and the overcoat and vest he tended to wear had been left wherever he kept his things. She supposed there was a secret room that she didn't know about. His shirt was plain, white with faded, thin blue stripes; two buttons were undone and his sleeves rolled up to the elbow.

She realized suddenly that she looked a wreck. Her hair was uncombed and sticking out in an unsightly way. She instinctively raised her hand to her head to smooth it out as best as possible. The nightwear she'd been given by her sister, with their mother's help, was pale blue—long but flimsy at best. Not see-through, and she thanked many different forces of the universe for that small favor.

Seemingly without looking up from his coffee mug, Cain asked: "What're you reading, kiddo?"

DG shrugged, opening the book to the first page. "Something I found in my room. I think it might be in a different language."

They both shared a chuckle, and DG decided to be brave and take a taste of the coffee. She hissed at the heat and set it back down. "How can you drink that? It's like… lava, but disguised in a pleasing form!"

"I think I burnt off my taste buds a long time ago," he said, shrugging. "You, ah… still hungry?"

"Like a horse," she muttered back.

Cain stood without a word, leaving his coffee behind him. He disappeared into the kitchen for only a moment, and when he emerged, he had something on a small china plate.

"Here. Speaking of taste buds, I think I lost my appetite." He reached across the table to lay the plate before her. It bore a strawberry tart, freshly made. "I caught one of the cooks earlier and asked her to make me something. Don't think I'm hungry anymore."

She gazed down at it hungrily, then looked back up at the man that had given it to her as he retook his seat. "I can't take your breakfast, Mr. Cain."

He waved her off, gesturing for her to take it anyway. She shrugged, but the first bite she took was full of guilt. The second, not so much. By the time she had finished the tart, she was looking happy and perky, something reserved for Afternoon DG, never Morning DG. She licked her fingers clean with a smile that she had made sure was clear of strawberry seeds.

His eyes flicked over to meet hers as he tilted his coffee mug to his lips again. Her smile softened slightly, and she cocked her head at an interested angle.

"I think we should get married," she said suddenly.

Cain's eyes widened to frightening proportions and he nearly choked on his gulp of coffee. He sputtered into the cup at the suddenness of the question. The mug clacked down on the table and he coughed loudly into his arm. DG only smiled, her hands folded before her on the table. He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth to make sure it was free of spilt coffee.

"_What_?" He choked around the lump in his throat caused by the half-swallowed coffee.

DG shrugged innocently, toying with her own coffee mug. "Well, I mean, we see each other every day anyway, don't we?"

"That's not…" He shook his head slowly, still looking dazed from her sudden proposal. He held his hand to his forehead, as if a headache was coming on. "You don't base a marriage on… _proximity_!"

"We have fun talking," she continued. "And I make you laugh."

"Yeah, well, so does Old Zipperhead, and I'm not gonna go out and get the two of _us_ hitched," Cain protested.

"And you _like_ seeing me everyday. And I like seeing you everyday."

"That still doesn't mean…" His eyebrows rose in concern. "DG, that doesn't mean we have to get _married_. We never even ki—" He broke off intentionally. It was sounding more absurd the more times he said it. Her smile fell slowly off of her face, and she drew absent circles on the table in front of her.

"Can you tell me that you don't love me?" she asked out of the blue. Cain's mouth cemented shut quickly, forming that single, straight line she had come to associate with deep thought. "Because if you can, I'll leave it alone and never talk about getting married again."

He stared across the table as if she were a hundred yards away, unable to move his mouth. The fingers of his hand on the table twitched, and he lowered his gaze to stare at his feet. He finally found the strength to open his mouth, but when he did, all he could manage was to look like a fish gasping for air. His jaw waggled soundlessly, and he was quick to shut it back again. He winced at the bright smile spreading across DG's face.

"Good," she said. She popped out of her chair and took two slow steps around the table until she was standing beside him. Cain shrunk down in his chair, uncharacteristic of a Tin Man, as he looked up at her with still-wide eyes.

She leaned down and angled her head just right to place a single kiss on his lips. As she lingered just over his lips, she heard his mouth part with words that got caught somewhere in his throat. The surprise left his eyes slowly as they searched hers in their proximity. He took a breath in their close quarters and finally leaned forward, only slightly, with intent to finish their circuit again.

She pulled away just as quickly, leaving him leaning into thin air. He stared questioningly up at her and realized that his ears were burning embarrassedly. DG looked pink and soft and delicate, smiling affectionately down at him and dressed only in her nightgown. He opened his mouth to speak first, but she twirled away from him and left her coffee cup as she took strides away from the breakfast table.

"I should set a date, then," she said over her shoulder, smiling mischievously.

Cain finally regained motor function and his chair scraped the floor loudly as he launched himself up out of it. DG squeaked in surprise and quickened her pace.

"We're not getting married!" Cain called as he took off after her. She laughed, running faster, streaking past her mother and father without so much as a backward glance.

"Yes we are!" she called back as Cain ran past Queen and Consort, leaving them with mouths agape. "A spring wedding!"

When Cain finally caught her, he held her by the shoulders and kissed her soundly. He tasted like warm coffee and sugar.

* * *

AN: Okay, to explain... Er, IS there a way to explain this? Basically, it came to me in a dream. I have weird dreams, okay? I had to get up in the middle of the night to jot down notes so I wouldn't forget anything. I hope it's not really random and no one likes it, cause I've got a pretty good report so far. :) It's just mindless fluff, and I hope it entertains. I've picked a fan suggestion (though I won't tell which one, bwaha) for the next chapter, so that'll be up... whenever. Hope you're not sick of me yet! Thanks for being so overall amazing to me, with all your love and reviews--they make my heart melt, and in a good way. Thanks again, and be sure to STAY AWESOME!! 


	8. Neither Cain nor DG can sleep properly

_In which neither Cain nor DG can sleep properly._

DG woke in the middle of the night to the sound of scuffling. She sat up slowly, her eyebrows digging down on her forehead as she listened carefully for the source of the noise. The night was nearly completely black, only the nearly full moon providing light. Clouds hovered, blocking out the stars and most of the silvery moonlight. She saw now that movement accompanied the noises immediately to her left, and she turned her head while her hand reached out for a nearby stick, in case she needed to club an intruder over the head.

She realized very quickly that she wouldn't need the stick, and she let it rest back at her side. She'd seen Wyatt Cain asleep before, and she'd always thought that he had been a rather calm sleeper. He'd lay his hat over his eyes and one hand was always resting on the gun at his hip, just in case he needed it. She squinted into the darkness to make sure that this was the same man.

His boots were scuffing in the dirt and his fists balled up over and over. His hat had fallen aside, and the look on his face was unmistakable even in the dim lighting. Fear, and sadness, with an uncharacteristic helplessness hidden in the downturn of his mouth. He opened his mouth, and nothing escaped him but a silent cry. DG bit her lip solemnly, looking the man over twice. She shouldn't have been watching. If she'd been having a nightmare anything like the one Cain appeared to be having, she wouldn't have wanted anyone watching her either. But Cain was different.

Cain was a stone. Cain was impenetrable, made of metal and five times tougher. Nothing fazed him, nothing broke down his walls. Nothing, until DG had met Adora. He'd knelt at her grave, and all he could do when DG stood beside him was turn away. She wasn't allowed to see him break down. The walls had returned after that, cold metal wrapping itself around his heart once again.

They came down again at night, it seemed. DG felt so guilty, for everything from his wife's death to being unable to just forget his nightmare and return to her own sleep. Unfortunately, sleep was now the last thing on her mind.

Getting to her hands and knees, DG crawled across the short space separating the two of them. Kneeling beside the dreaming man, she realized that she had no idea what she intended to do once she arrived at his side. She just wanted him to stop hurting, and if that meant slapping him across the face, then so be it.

One of his clenched fists rose from his side suddenly, as if swinging out at an invisible enemy. It swept up, just past DG's face, and she nearly shouted at the surprise it gave her. Instinct gripped her, and her own hand shot out to clamp onto his wrist as it flew by her face.

He shot up in an instant, the barrel of his gun pressed firmly against her collarbone. His eyes were open, but he was still dreaming. For an instant, she saw the hate and the drive for revenge he had tried to hide so well deep in those eyes as they stared her down. She opened her mouth to gasp, but found even that impossible with the frightfully cold gun against her chest. He blinked, and suddenly, he was back.

He nearly dropped the gun in surprise and wrenched it away from DG as if it'd been on fire. "DG," he breathed, looking from her wide, troubled eyes to the way she'd grabbed his wrist. "Damn, I didn't hurt you, did I?" Something from his nightmare was still caught in his throat when he'd said it, and all the adrenaline and fear drained from her in an instant upon hearing it.

"No," she assured him. "You tried to, though." An encouraging smile attempted to flicker to life on her lips, but it fell back into obscurity.

She felt something odd in the pit of her stomach when he looked at her, then. As if the dream hadn't completely fled from his mind. There was so much behind those normally cold eyes. Startled at the length of time she let pass between them, she let go of his wrist rather quicker than she meant to.

He looked away, and she wasn't sure if she was glad or not. "I'm sorry." He looked out across their little makeshift camp, and the others still appeared to be asleep. "Didn't mean to wake you up, Princess," he said quickly, and he made as if to turn away and resume his sleep.

"Cain—" DG interrupted quickly. She couldn't allow his walls to go back up around him. Not yet. He paused, still turned away from her, and with a low sigh he sat back up to face her.

"What?" He tried to play it cool, to pretend that he hadn't been caught with his armor off. But she saw him the way he hoped no one would ever see him: exposed.

"We're friends, aren't we?" DG asked. The question obviously wasn't the one he was expecting, for his eyebrows shot up. He took an awfully long time to consider the question, watching her for any tell as to where she was taking this.

"Yeah. I'd say we're friends."

"Then you know you can talk to me, right?" She lowered her voice as Glitch gave a snort in his sleep and rolled over.

"Thanks for the offer, kid, but _no_ thanks." His defenses flew up again, and he pulled her overcoat close around him and turned away to return to his fitful sleep.

She'd blown it, and she cursed herself inwardly for a short time before she opened her mouth to try again. "Sometimes," she said softly, "I have dreams about the cave." His head turned slightly to watch her over his shoulder, but he made no sound. "Every time, I let go of my sister's hand. Every time, I just run away, and my heart feels like… like…" DG let her hand hover over her chest, just above her heart. "Like it's been frozen, and it'll never thaw out."

Cain sat up slowly, still watching her, and his iron façade slowly slipped off of his face again. In the white light of the moon, he looked pale and suddenly very, very human. She looked up from her knees, and an earnest smile took her face.

"But then I think of you three. My only friends in the world, anymore. You'd stick with me no matter what, even if I left my sister in that cave. Then the nightmare doesn't mean anything anymore. It's over." Her fingers fidgeted with one another in her lap, and she looked away to them. "You told me, right outside the cave. You told me that it's already happened, and there's nothing I can do about it now. So I open my eyes and think about what you told me."

Her eyes flicked up to his, and she was surprised to find him contemplating her. "What?" she asked. One side of his mouth tugged up.

"You listened to me," he said, raising one eyebrow as if it were a miraculous occurrence.

"Well, you were right. I can't help Az by over-thinking what I did in the cave." Tentatively, she reached out to place her hand just at his wrist, not quite touching his hand. "You can't help Jeb, or anyone else, by blaming yourself."

His eyes fell harshly, and he removed his wrist from her grip to run the hand through his hair. DG changed her tune instantly. "I didn't mean—"

"DG," Cain sighed in response. She pursed her lips together and lapsed into silence. "I know what you're trying to do."

She absently tucked her hair behind her ear, looking anywhere but his watchful eyes. He caught her chin in his hand and turned her gently to face him. She was suddenly glad for the dim lighting, and hoped against hope that he didn't see the heat that had suddenly risen to her face.

"Thanks," he said. "I mean it this time."

"No problem," she said back just as quietly, both worried and thrilled that he hadn't yet let go of her face. His hand fell back to his lap at last, though his eyes still hung on hers. He cleared his throat as he looked across the clearing, so as to look anywhere but at her.

"It was Adora," he said flatly. Several emotions tried to appear, but he held all of them back with a squared jaw.

"Cain…"

"No, you told me yours, now I'm gonna tell you mine," he insisted, still not quite looking at her. He was adamant, and she remained quiet for him to continue. "I wasn't fast enough to save her," he said slowly, his voice dark and low. "Every time. _Every time_, I'm just a little too late, and there's Zero standing over her, and—" Cain's lip curled up in disgust that he wasn't able to hide. "He's just smiling. Like he _enjoyed_ it. It feels like I'm burning up from the inside out."

He finally caught DG in his sights again, and she tried her best not to let her breath disappear. "Then I wake up. And I see you sleeping over there, and the dreams matter just a little less." His smile was sad, but there it was, staring her right in the face. "'Cause like it or not, you're what's important right now, DG."

When she smiled, it wasn't careful or planned or even sad. It was bright and true, and even though she ducked her head embarrassedly, he saw it grace her lips.

"C'mon, kiddo," he said at last. "Get some more sleep before dawn. We're not getting another rest like this."

As he turned himself over again for sleep, he heard DG's uncertain voice begin: "Um…" His eyes found her fingers fidgeting again, and she spoke seemingly before her brain had time to tell her to stop. "I was thinking, just in case I had the nightmare again… I might sleep a little closer to you to make sure I remember what you said?"

For several heart-stopping moments, he only stared at her, his face unreadable. Finally, with a small, conceding sigh, he motioned her over to him with one hand.

Glitch was surprised to find that he was the first to wake in the morning. The suns were already peeking up over the horizon, and he wondered why Cain hadn't already kicked them to their feet to get them moving. As he moved about the small camp to rouse everyone else, he discovered why the ever-attentive Tin Man hadn't opened his eyes first.

Cain and DG lay spooned tightly up against one another, she before him and his arms wrapped protectively around her. He held his gun in one hand, ready for any nightmares that might threaten her in the dead of night. Both were smiling, and sleeping like the dead.

* * *

AN: Woo! Sorry this one took longer to get up. Before I forget, this chapter is based on the suggestion of **KourtTears**. Thanks much!! I have picked another fan suggestion for the next chapter, so you guys have that to look forward to! This one is kinda just fluff, and I apologize for no hot, sloppy makeouts... but I like writing fluff too :D Tell me what you think, especially if you think I've eaten chili before bed again. Thanks so much for your feedback so far, guys. It makes me feel so loved!! And, most importantly of all, STAY AWESOME!! 


	9. A Tin Man meets a tiny princess

_In which a Tin Man meets a tiny princess._

DG was quite sure that she had never been in this part of the forest before. As usual, she'd wandered off, following the sparkle of a butterfly that looked as if its wings were made of glass. As the sound of its flapping—it sounded more like wind chimes than anything an insect should make—wound around the trees, DG followed doggedly. Before she realized how far she'd wandered from the carriage, she was standing promptly in the middle of nowhere. The butterfly landed on the trunk of a tree, its wings fluttering and catching the light. DG approached, a finger extended to touch it, and as soon as she was near enough to catch in its multifaceted eye, it sprang up out of her reach and flew into the sunlit canopy.

The girl sighed, her eyes lingering in the foliage. She cast her gaze about the wood, and slowly, it dawned upon her that she had wandered very far indeed. The sound of the river was gone, and while she looked for the path she'd taken to this place, each tree looked exactly the same. She took another look around herself, more confused than scared.

"Az?" She asked into the crisp nothingness of the forest. There was no reply, and she expected as much. The more she turned, the less sure she was of where she'd come from. She shrugged once, hiked up her skirts, and set off again in the direction she thought to be the correct one. No one would ever call DG a coward, and if she thought hard enough, she could imagine herself on one of the adventures in her books.

Her pretty black shoes were covered in scuffmarks, and the ribbon had come out of her hair. Twigs and leaves had taken its place, and, where her hair had once been straight and brushed, it had become tangled with verdant wildlife. Despite this, she soldiered on, humming the tune often sung between she, her sister and her mother. She seemed no less concerned with the fact that she'd gone missing than if she'd misplaced one of her toys. An inconvenience at best.

All at once, the sound of footsteps caught her ears, and the girl's head shot up at the noise. She was quick to hide behind a tree—she'd seen bears in these woods before, and she could never be too safe. When the owner of the footsteps appeared, she saw that it was not a bear, as she'd thought, but a tall man with blond hair and kind blue eyes. He noticed her suddenly, presumably from the bright red of her dress.

He nearly jumped at the sight of her. He took a quick look at their surroundings, and concern came into his eyes. He took cautious steps forward, his hands held up in an offering of peace. DG pouted slightly, and took only one step from behind the tree. The man was finally beside her, and with one motion, he knelt down to her level, one knee in the dirt and dead leaves.

"Hey," he began, his voice low but soft, "are you lost, kiddo?"

DG paused, clutching her hands before her, her lips pressed firmly together. At last, in a quick voice, she uttered: "Mother says I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." That wasn't a lie, but DG almost laughed to herself. She was the one who always disobeyed Mother; Az was the obedient one. Instead of backing away, the man only smiled.

"Well, you see this?" He pointed to the right side of his chest, where a gleaming circle of metal shone in the afternoon sun. She just noticed it, and the star held within. "This means I'm one of the good guys."

DG's face lit up suddenly, and a wide, childish smile took her upon recognition of the badge. "You're a Tin Man!" She'd seen precious little of the famed lawmen of Central City—read about them mostly, and seen pretty illustrations in her books. The watercolors glorified the cowboys slightly, but this man seemed the very picture of Tin Men as she'd always imagined them: the straight jaw, the wide-brimmed hat, and the kindness and heart behind his blue eyes.

"I am," he said in return.

"What are you doing so far out here?" She asked inquisitively.

"I'm working protection on an old wizard. What's your excuse?"

"A wizard?" DG's eyes widened. "Does he do magic?"

"The best kind," the Tin Man replied. He tapped the side of his head to demonstrate. "It's all up here. He's the smartest man I've ever met."

The fact that she had wandered away from her family was now infinitesimal at the mention of the wizard. "Can I meet him?"

"You know what?" The man said as he shoved himself to his feet. "Let's find your parents first. That way, you can ask _them_."

Her smile fell, both at the disappointment in not seeing the wizard and at remembering that she was supposed to be lost. "Okay," she said at last. Her tiny hand fit into his larger, rougher one. "My name is DG."

He nearly started again, his mouth hanging slightly open at the revelation. After a moment, he offered her a smile. "You can call me Wyatt."

Wyatt led her to the road. It was surprisingly close, but they emerged at a different point than where she had left it. She stared down the road in a southern direction, looking for any sign that her family had left without her. Wyatt was watching in a northern direction, perhaps for the old wizard. Just as she thought the thought, around the bend in the road came five great horses, each topped by a Tin Man, leading a wagon bedecked in gleaming jewels and tassels. It seemed to sparkle and jingle just like the butterfly she'd found. She gave a pleased little gasp and took off from Wyatt's grip at a run.

"DG!" Wyatt called suddenly, making her stop dead and spin on the spot. He took her hand again and pulled her to the side of the road. "What do they teach kids these days?" He asked more to himself than to her. He shook his head with a sigh. "Don't run out into traffic," he said plainly. DG nodded, looking at her feet.

They waited on the side of the road for the horses and wagon to pull up alongside them. It slowed, and jerked to a halt right beside the Tin Man and the girl. The side opened up like a Venetian blind, with the clatter of wood as the slats hit one another. Inside was dark, and DG quailed slightly, but Wyatt kept a firm hold on her hand, which comforted her slightly. Then, a lamp was lit just near the opening to reveal an aging man with gray hair that was almost white. His moustache was full, and his smile was wide and kind.

"I send you out to scout, and this is what happens?" His voice was full of warmth. "What's this you've picked up, Cain?" The older man asked. Wyatt Cain shifted almost nervously.

"Her name is DG," he said simply. The older man's face fell slightly, and the Tin Man nodded. "DG, this is the wizard I told you about. The Mystic Man."

The Mystic Man laughed, waving off the title. "Nonsense, I'm just a simple man with a little bit of intuition."

"Wyatt said you can do magic," DG said, stepping forward and peering straight at the older man. She tapped the side of her head just as Wyatt had done. "With your head."

"Did he, now?" The Mystic Man asked, throwing a glance up Wyatt's way. The Tin Man shrugged, a little smile evident on his lips. "Well, young DG, would you like to see a trick?"

"Very much," DG said, her smile turning up pleasantly.

"Good," the Mystic Man chuckled. "Now—" He straightened himself up and cleared his throat. "—give me your hand. Please."

DG laid out her hand, palm up. The Mystic Man laid his hand on top of hers, and waved his second hand over top of them both.

"I want you to say the magic words, DG," he said.

"What are they?" She asked, looking confusedly up at Wyatt, who crouched low to the ground beside her. He shrugged.

"Whatever you want them to be," the Mystic Man said with a chuckle. "Go on, say something."

DG screwed her face up. "Lions and tigers and bears!" She said at last in a voice tinged with sudden inspiration.

"Oh my!" The Mystic Man said as he whipped his hands away from hers. As soon as he did, DG gasped at what she saw sitting in her palm. It was the crystal butterfly, light refracting off of its wings in tiny prisms. Every time its wings flapped, a chime plinked out into the clearing. The girl laughed brightly, and held her palm close to her chest.

"I can keep it?"

"It's all yours, my dear girl." The Mystic Man bade Wyatt to step closer, and he leaned in to receive a whispered order. He nodded and said something quietly in return. "Well, it seems you are slightly lost, my dear."

"Only a little," DG said absently, inspecting the beautiful butterfly in her hand.

"Is your family somewhere up the road, DG?" Wyatt asked, still at her level. She looked up at him, then down the road in its southern direction.

"They were. Maybe they left."

"We'll see about that," Wyatt said, and held out his hand again. She gladly took it. He opened the door on the side of the wagon and took the step up inside, pulling the girl after him. Once the door was closed behind her, she took a seat on a cushioned seat along the opposite side as the Mystic Man. Wyatt opened the slot separating driver from passenger. "We're ready back here. Keep an eye out for the royal carriage."

The wagon rocked as it took off down the road. Wyatt took his seat beside DG, leaning forward with his arms crossed across his knees. He watched the butterfly in DG's hand interestedly, and she brought it closer for him to see. The Mystic Man smiled to himself.

"What were you doing so far from your family?" Wyatt asked concernedly after a pause.

"I was bored, I think," she said absently, stroking the wings of her crystal butterfly. "We stopped for a picnic, but no one wanted to go on an adventure. So I made one up for myself."

"Ambitious girl," the Mystic Man said, nodding. "Never lose that spark, child. It means so much to have it, and I feel that your adventurousness will come in handy some day."

"But," Wyatt added pointedly, "it's dangerous to go on your own."

"That's what my mother says," DG noted.

"Speaking of," the Mystic Man muttered. As if on cue, the wagon began to slow. Noise from outside indicated that there was someone else on the road. Wyatt was on his feet, poking his head out of the side and searching the road. He was smiling down at DG when he looked back inside.

"Come on, time to get you back." He held out his hand, and DG took it.

"Thank you, Mystic Man," DG said over her shoulder as Wyatt led her out. He waved it off as if it were nothing.

"Trust me, my girl, we'll meet again."

Wyatt and DG stepped out of the wagon and onto the road. The other Tin Men on protection detail for the Mystic Man were off of their horses and talking quietly amongst themselves. DG grinned helplessly—Wyatt was the most handsome of all of them, and he'd rescued her, like a prince in the stories. She was lucky, she decided.

As they rounded the extravagant wagon, the royal carriage came into view. There was her mother, luxurious black hair spilling over one shoulder, and her father with his eyebrows knit in worry. Beside them, Az was clutching her hands and seemed as though she might faint at the slightest word. Wyatt removed his hat respectfully as he approached.

"Your Highness," he said to get their attention. The Queen looked up first, and she gave a gasp of relief.

"DG!" Az shouted and ran to her sister. The elder caught the younger in a tight embrace. "Oh, I told you not to run off!" The queen was quick to join them, holding both of her daughters close. Her father approached Wyatt and extended his hand. Wyatt shook it carefully.

"How can we thank you?" The man asked, his face soft and relieved.

"Seeing her home is thanks enough," Wyatt responded. He bowed respectfully to the Queen and made to turn and leave.

"Wyatt!" DG cried, breaking away from her family. The Tin Man stopped and turned back. She was smiling up at him when she reached his side. "I wanted to say thank you. For finding me, and letting me meet the wizard."

"It was my pleasure, DG," Wyatt responded. He knelt down to her level once more, a hand on her shoulder. "You just have to promise me one thing, all right?"

"Okay," she agreed.

"Don't go wandering off on your own anymore. Stay close to your sister."

"I will," DG said, her smile bright. "Oh, wait," she said before he could stand. "I want you to have this."

She held out her hand, where the crystal butterfly sat placidly. Wyatt shook his head.

"I can't take that. That's a gift special for you from the Mystic Man."

"If you didn't find me, I wouldn't have it anyway." Her logic was surprisingly sound. "Please?"

Wyatt sighed slightly through his nose, and a smile quirked up on his lips. "All right, if that's what you really want." He held out his hand, and she delicately placed the butterfly in his palm.

"Take good care of it," she demanded.

"I will."

He stood beside the Mystic Man's wagon as the royal carriage pulled away. Her little childish face wasn't watching backward through the rear window. She was probably absorbed in storytelling with her family, or playing with her sister. Cain simply shook his head, smiling down at the present from the little girl. Without a word, he tucked it into his jacket pocket, where it fluttered and chimed.

* * *

AN: WOO! I'm back! Now, I know there weren't a lot of reviews for the last chapter because FF. net decided to have a spaz attack RIGHT after I posted Chapter 8. I kinda hope it wasn't also because I suddenly started sucking... Anyway, today's chapter is brought to you by the suggestion of **Anime Fan Team** (again!), so I can't say my idea was original. There's not really romance here (cause that'd be weeeird...) But I thought it'd be cute. And I like it! And I got to write the Mystic Man! Soooo, tell me what you think, even if you think I'm terrible and a hack. I just love hearing from you guys! Leave some love, and here's some back at ya. LOVE!! STAY AWESOME!! 


	10. DG remembers a crystal butterfly

_In which DG remembers a crystal butterfly._

"I know what you're trying to do, kid," Cain muttered as she took her time in coming to stand beside him. Her eyes were wide, staring up at him as if to ask, 'What _am_ I doing, Mr. Cain?' He watched the ground instead of her. "I've led men into battle myself."

"So," DG began slowly, and her eyes ticked curiously up to his. "How am I doing?"

He nearly scoffed, finally taking a good look at her. "Well, there's less hugging when I do it." His smile was met by a soft one of her own, and she blinked several times into the silence. He softened into something muted, something nearly absent. He even managed to lower his voice. "But not so bad."

She lowered her gaze first, to the leaf-littered ground and away from his quiet smile. "We better get going—"

Oh, no. She wasn't getting away that easily. "Look," he interjected quickly before she could make any further movement away from him. She halted, her bright, expressive eyes hanging on his again. Neither of them was smiling anymore. His hand on her upper arm had halted her movement, but still he held onto her, for fear she might break away. "You may not be able to save your sister. So if our plan doesn't work, you_will_ try to get out of there." It was a hard decision to make, but it was reaching zero hour, and things had to be said. "Right?" he pleaded once more.

DG pursed her lips in indecision, unable to look at him but at the same time unable to look anywhere else. His grip tightened on her arm protectively. "This is the one time I'm not gonna be there to help."

Something proud and sad stood up in her spine, and she looked directly into his eyes. "You've already helped me, Mr. Cain." At the last, he voice hitched up into a whisper, and her eyes darted away.

Cain didn't know what to say. His mouth opened uselessly without words, and his eyes washed over the face she'd turned away. With the hand holding onto her arm, he felt his thumb move comfortingly up and down in a soothing way and pulled her slightly closer.

"DG," he said at last. Now it was his turn to look away, as her inquisitive blue eyes sought his in their closeness. His eyebrows knit in deep thought and concern as he pretended to be very interested in a tree parallel to his right shoulder. "I don't know how things are gonna go today," he began, and he focused his gaze back on the girl before him, "so I wanted to say something, just in case—"

"Don't say that," DG urged. She shook her head, as if ridding it of her own dark thoughts. "No goodbyes."

"All right," he said in a low voice. He was too far in to stop now. "But I want to say it anyway."

The way she looked up at him filled his insides with electricity, and for a moment, it paralyzed him. He took a steeling breath and moved his open hand to her other shoulder, holding her square to him.

"Do you remember the first time you met the Mystic Man?"

The question threw her. The confusion was obvious all over her pretty face. She squinted in bewilderment, cocking her head slightly to the side.

"Yeah, in Central City. But what does he have to do with—"

"No, before that," Cain interrupted. They didn't have time to dance around anything. DG slowly shook her head, completely unsure where Cain was taking this thread of conversation. "In the woods. You were lost."

The tiniest flicker of recognition flashed behind DG's eyes, and she closed them to better facilitate the memory. "His wagon was red with gold lettering. There were chimes and bells all over it. He had hair back then," she added with a sad smile. "He told me to stay adventurous." She opened her eyes again, smiling only lightly. "And look at where_that_ got me. About to raid a witch's fortress with a few handfuls of resistance fighters."

"He told me something before he picked you up," Cain said, the words spilling from him like a river that'd been pent up for far too long. "That I'd fall in love with a butterfly, and I wouldn't even know it 'til it was almost too late."

The words hung between them, but nothing sparked behind DG's eyes. Cain forced a massive lump down and out of his throat before he took back one of his hands. He reached down into the front pocket of his long jacket and took something in his hand. It emerged as just a fist, something enclosed within. He stared down at it with something dangerous caught in his chest, and he cleared his throat to rid himself of it.

"A long time ago," he said slowly, "I made a promise to a little girl. She gave me this." His fist unfolded between them to reveal a beautiful crystal butterfly. Its mechanized wings gave a twitter, and the sound of chimes pealed around the clearing. DG's mouth dropped open at the simple beauty of the thing, how it caught the light and diffused it into tiny prisms on the trees around them. Cain's face was illuminated by two of them.

"It's beautiful," she said quietly, unable to draw her eyes away. A long breath from the man in front of her, and she finally did summon the strength to look up. There was something new and something wonderful in Cain's eyes as he looked down on her and the crystal in his hand.

"It's your butterfly, DG."

Her mouth dropped slowly open, and her eyes flashed from the butterfly to Cain, who hadn't dared to move. Her hand reached up and gently closed over top of his, encasing the butterfly between them. "I told you to take care of her. And you did." The step closer was almost imperceptible. "Oh, Cain…"

"DG," he interjected quickly before either of them could say or do anything further. "I held on to this thing for fifteen years. It's been sitting in my pocket, beside my bed, and I thought about what the Mystic Man told me. And you know what?"

She shook her head. The butterfly flapped its wings, and the sound of wind chimes tolled through them.

"I think he was right," he muttered, placing another hand overtop of hers. "It's almost too late, I know. And you were just a girl then, and we're both older and smarter, and you're a strong, passionate woman now, and I know I shouldn't be saying things like this, but…" He trailed off at the look she was giving him. She'd leaned up and in, and their noses nearly touched. The butterfly fluttered restlessly.

"Kiss me," she demanded in a close voice.

Cain swallowed his nervousness and inhibitions, watching as her eyes fluttered closed. He angled his head to fit against hers and pressed bravely forward until their lips brushed against one another. He only lasted another moment before DG's arms laced up around his neck to pull them completely together. Her sweet little mouth moved under his like she knew so much more about what she was doing than he'd believed. Instinct took hold of his suddenly fevered brain, and one arm fit perfectly around her waist to pull her fast against him. The crystal butterfly dropped from his hand as he held DG to him and made himself intimately familiar with the way her mouth moved.

He whispered something hot and quiet against the hollow of her jaw before trailing kisses to her collarbone. She didn't have to hear him to know what he said. She kissed his forehead, her fingers intertwined behind his head and told him the same in her own words.

The crystal butterfly flapped its wings and rose with a chime to rest on the bark of a tree, watching the proceedings it had helped to bring around. The love of a butterfly, years in the making, and minutes in unfolding. The Mystic Man would have been proud. His best prediction to date.

They emerged from the clearing together, slightly flushed and their hands clasped firmly together. In the other hand, DG held a shining and beautiful crystal butterfly that she had once accepted from an old wizard. They settled in with Jeb to run over the invasion plans again, and while the others noticed their conjoined hands, no one said a word. They'd been given their time to say goodbyes. It was theirs to spend how they wished.

Before they went their separate ways, Cain pulled DG in close to whisper it one more time in her ear, so she would remember him just as they had been.

"I love you, Princess."

* * *

AN: Erm... I'm sorry? This is the sappiest/corniest/cheesiest/fluffiest thing I think I've ever written. It just spilled out. Well, based on the numerous people who wanted to see a reappearance of the crystal butterfly, here you go! It's my second shortest chapter (after the first one), so I feel kinda bad there. Also, of note, first time I ever wrote those three words for Cain. The "I love you" thing. So, yeah, I guess I don't blame you if this chapter isn't up to snuff. But I think I like it nonetheless. It gave me a chance to write something I probably never will in "Guardian." That's fun! If there's anything needs fixin', let me know and I'll get right on that. And const. crit. is welcome, as long as you're helpful and not just mean. Thanks for reading so far, guys, and STAY AWESOME! 


	11. DG doesn't chose a suitor

_In which DG doesn't choose a suitor._

"I don't understand," DG fumed as she tried to press down the ruffles on a garish blue dress that she supposed was trying to match her eyes, "why I have to start dating at all."

Cain's following grumble might have been an answer, or perhaps he had been clearing his throat. He looked even less amused than she did, which was definitely saying something. He sat across the room in an uncomfortably-overstuffed chair, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. DG continued to poke and prod at her dress as she turned in the mirror--there had to be _some_ angle that was flattering.

"You'd think I'd get a _choice_ in the matter, is all," she mumbled. "It _is_ my body, after all. I should get say on who gets to touch it, right?"

Cain was looking rather pointedly at his feet, as if they were suddenly extremely interesting. "You get a choice," muttered back. "Your pick of which drooling, ridiculous excuse for a royal fleabag you want shoving his tongue down your throat."

"Oh God!" DG cried, throwing her hands up over her eyes. "I need a Brillo pad to scrub out my mind's eye!"

Cain's eyebrows drew down succinctly. "What?"

"Nevermind." She sighed, fussing with the ruffles once more, and pondered whether ripping them off would be enough to excuse her from the gambit her mother had set before her that afternoon.

Cain stood, one hand on his gun to make sure that it was still beside him. "You ready for this, Princess?"

"I'm gonna die," she grumbled, looking anything but the perky princess she was supposed to be. "I'm gonna kill her and then I'm gonna die." She gave him the once-over, taking in the familiar Tin Man uniform with a disdainful gaze. "How'd you get stuck tagging along with me, anyway?"

"Protection detail." Cain's face was grim as he patted the gun at his hip. "In case anyone decides to get frisky."

DG's lips finally pulled back in a smile at the mental image he'd created for her, of Wyatt Cain holding some young upstart a foot off the floor by his collar, gun flashing and teeth bared like a protective guard dog.

The reception room of the palace at Finaqua wasn't as large as the ballroom in either this or the Northern Island castle, but it was fitting for the occasion. Blue satin had been draped at the windows, something that DG found quite unnecessary. Blue and white flowers had been grouped together in vases on small tables set about the room, around which the gentlemen sat. There seemed to be a sea of them, but DG was sure that her worried, fevered brain was multiplying them against reason. There still had to be at least forty young men gathered in the reception room, all of them dressed up in finery to see _her_. To court her. A sick feeling decided to settle in her stomach, and she couldn't swallow it away.

"Oh man," DG sighed, looking helpless as she stood nervously in the double-wide doorway. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"As long as you're sick in the other direction," Cain advised from behind her.

While not exactly the most encouraging words she'd heard from him, or anyone else for that matter, she stepped forward into the room, emboldened. If only to prove to Mr. Cain that she could, indeed, pull off this big-girl stunt, she set her jaw proudly and sauntered forward toward the roomful of suitors. She'd have to remember to scowl at her mother later.

She was announced by the page at the door, of course, and in a loud, obtrusive voice. She was sure that strangers across the castle now knew that she had entered the reception room, and she winced as all eyes turned to her and chatter stopped quickly. DG raised her hand nervously to wave. Cain turned his barking laugh into a cough into his hand. DG made a point not to look at him.

They were polite and allowed the princess to mingle. At least they had the reservation to not pounce on her at once, like a hydra. Her first destination took her to a small group of three young men, all looking clean and sharp. They bowed as she approached.

One in particular had caught her attention. He called himself Nox, the son of an earl, or a duke, or perhaps a lord. DG wasn't quite sure which, for he spoke quite quickly--obviously nervous in the presence of a bona fide Princess. She wondered if it was anything like the time she had stood in line to get Kenny Chesney's autograph. She smiled at the memory, and Nox must have mistaken it for interest in his story, for he continued on with renewed strength. Something about a horse, and maybe gelatin.

"I don't like him," a voice muttered just over her right shoulder. She nearly jumped, and Nox actually sprung back at the sudden appearance of Wyatt Cain.

She glared up at him over her shoulder. "Why not?"

Cain squinted at Nox from behind DG in a threatening manner. "He's got squinty eyes. He looks shifty."

DG sighed in an irritated way though her nose and walked quickly away from the hovering shadow behind her. Cain glared once more at Nox, pointing with two fingers at his own eyes, then back at Nox. His point was clear, and he turned to follow DG. Nox and his two companions edged to the door, never taking their eyes off of the Tin Man.

DG threw a look over her shoulder to see if she'd lost Cain, and was satisfied enough to stand beside another young man. He kissed her hand once and as he opened his mouth to give her his name, the princess heard a voice at her shoulder again. "He smiles too much. He's up to something."

"Not everyone has to be up to something," she quipped back.

She stalked away nonetheless, hoping to lose her bodyguard in the crowd of young men eager to find her eye and garner some attention for themselves.

Before she could even attempt to chat up a rather nice-looking fellow, Cain was beside her, arms crossed and observing her new choice. "He's awful short, don't you think?" He stood a good two or three inches shorter than DG, and she wasn't even in heels. While she silently admitted that Cain had a point, she continued to wear her mask of irritation.

"He has girl's hands," Cain mumbled in DG's ear as she shook hands with another young man, this one tall and handsome, with ears that stuck out slightly. His handshake _was_ unnaturally soft and moisturized.

"He's missing a tooth," Cain pointed out, literally, as she approached the man standing beside the one with feminine hands. "Probably has a violent streak."

"Pot. Kettle. Look it up," she muttered, glaring hard at him again.

One man stepped out toward DG, smiling pleasantly with his hands clasped behind his back. He introduced himself right out as Fortinbras. Cain's eyes narrowed and his brows crept slowly up his forehead. He exchanged an odd look with DG, then whispered, "Fortinbras? Are you serious? You don't even need _me_ on that one."

DG continued to make her way around the room to try and at least be civil to the men her mother had invited to woo her. The ever-present Tin Man didn't help matters at all. When at last DG thought that she had found the perfect specimen of man among them, she mentally dared Cain to find fault in him.

He had bronze skin and a smile that seemed to light his face. His hair was black and combed away from his square, handsome face. His eyes were bright green and full of expression. He was tall, and evidently muscular even under his suit. He had a flat Grecian nose, and when DG approached, he bowed respectfully.

"Highness," he said with a slight accent of origin unknown.

She smiled in a slightly giddy way as he stood from his deep bow. His pretty eyes inspected her face, but he was quickly distracted by the angry, brooding, hovering Wyatt Cain beside her. DG followed his eyes and stared up at Cain in complete exasperation.

"Oh, come _on_!" She cried. "What can you possibly have to say about him? He's gorgeous!"

Cain crossed his arms. He allowed a thick pause as his eyebrows knit in anger. "He gives me the creeps."

DG finally threw up her arms and uttered a frustrated mixture of a growl and a scream. The room went silent. All eyes were on her again, but this time, it wasn't nerves tingling that set her insides on fire. She was glaring up at the man in the hat, and one accusatory finger shot out to poke him in the chest.

"No one's good enough!" She spat. "You'll never let me talk to anyone because no one's ever gonna meet your standards!"

He said nothing, and she assaulted him once again with her finger poking him just below the collarbone.

"They have personalities under the missing teeth and the girly hands, you know! Maybe if I got to talk to anyone else, I might actually like them!" She gasped. "You're worried I'd like them!"

His scowl deepened, and while he opened his mouth to say something once, he stopped himself quickly. This only further infuriated the princess.

"What the hell is wrong with you, anyway?" She shouted, entirely too close.

"They're not me!!" He shouted suddenly, his face going fully red.

DG's anger dropped away from her face in an instant, and she was left to simply gape at him. He obviously regretted saying it, but it was entirely too late at that point. He couldn't quite bring himself to clamp his jaw shut as he wanted to, and it hung open uselessly as he stared down at her with red hot intensity. She could only blink in astonishment.

"Cain...?" She asked at last, as if to check that he was still alive behind those eyes.

He finally snapped his jaw shut, squared his shoulders, dug up any pride and dignity he could muster, and stalked quickly off for the nearest door. Both DG and the man with the straight Roman nose stared after him, along with most of the room.

"Who was that?" The man asked, shaking his head.

DG gave him a sharp look that punctured his ego in an instant. "Sorry, Hercules," she muttered, shoving past him. "I gotta go." She took off after Cain, through the door, and disappeared.

From the balcony overlooking the reception hall, Queen Lavender exchanged a smug look with her eldest daughter, who returned it with a curling smile. Az shook her head, looking down on the suddenly confused rabble of nobility below them.

"A bunch of good-looking young royals upstaged by a stuffy old Tin Man," Az murmured, grinning. "You've outdone yourself, Mother."

"I only do what I can," she replied, and smiled down upon her work.

* * *

AN: Hey folks, guess what? This little ficlet you just read was written specifically for **YoukaiYume** at DevArt, and (hold on to your hats and scarves, they might get BLOWN AWAY)... will be turned into a minicomic! She and I have been in cahoots over the past few days, and when I came up with this little ditty, she decided it'd make a good comic. I've seen some prelim stuff, and it's gonna be awesome! Keep an eye out in my profile, I'll be posting a link to the comic when it's done. Please check out her page on DevArt in the meantime, she's awesome :D Anyway, about the fic, it came to me just before I went to sleep (omg again? oh, and according to James Lipton of Inside the Actor's Studio, that's when all the best writers come up with awesome things. So WOO.). It may not be my best, but I still want honest opinions on it. Whether or not it makes sense, is funny, is sweet, what have you. I still love all of you, especially since it's evident that you are all STAYING AWESOME!! 


	12. Cain gets shot for DG

_In which Cain gets shot for DG._

Cain hadn't planned on punching the duke. He'd planned on sticking to the shadows and watch out for the princess, as he'd been doing for months. Things, however, seemed to have gotten away from him.

The morning had started off innocently enough. DG was working her way down the list of suitors her parents had scribbled down for her. She'd decided to go in a vaguely alphabetical order, to give some sort of randomness to it. She didn't want to reject them all at once. That would be plain rude. So, she decided a while back, she was going to give each of them one day. One day, which included her busy princess schedule, lessons to be learned, and the ever-present shadow of the protective Tin Man. Ahamo had seen it as a smart move to put DG's old friend at the head of the protection unit, and he was needed nearly every hour of the day now that DG's suitors seemed to be swarming the streets.

"It's a very diplomatic way to go about seeing them," Az remarked as she looked out the bay window to the garden below, "but in hindsight, I think she must have forgotten how much room a suitor and his entourage take up." The primped and costumed men paraded around in the garden, having travelled long distances to hole up in one of the castle's many guest rooms to wait for his one day. One would move out and another would waltz into his place, a never-ending stream of earls, dukes and young cousins of foreign dignitaries no one had ever heard of.

"Don't say that too loudly," Ambrose advised, flicking through another encyclopedia. "She's got ears like a fox. Not to mention Cain."

Az chuckled to herself, looking away from the man-infested garden to the royal advisor across the room. "Did you see what he did to the last one to pass through? Who was he?"

"Grand Poobah of Someplace Or Another," Ambrose replied, snapping the book shut and reaching for another. A Glitch-like smirk took his lips as his eyes flicked up to hers. "What did he do?"

"Nearly tossed him off of the main balcony," Az said, laughter in her voice as the moment replayed behind her eyes. "Had him held up with both hands by his stuffed collar, growling like some guard dog. All for remarking that DG had 'strange taste in clothing' I believe."

"Was she wearing that awful tee-shirt thing?" Ambrose's lip curled. "The one with all those stripes? And that terrible yellow color?"

Az laughed brightly. "So you remember."

"Who could forget?" Ambrose asked with a shudder. "She's a doll, but she's got the strangest ideas of fashion..."

"And this is the library," DG's unnecessarily loud voice echoed down the hallway, speaking of their arrival. Az nearly jumped off of the sofa she was sitting on, and Ambrose fumbled with the encyclopedia. It dropped to the ground with a loud smack. The large wooden door swung inward just as Ambrose circled around to stand behind the couch, both he and the elder princess attempting to look as if they had been expecting the intrusion.

Three figures entered into the library. The first was DG, dressed in a subdued, light-blue summer dress that brushed just below her knees. Second was a tall, broad-chested man with dark hair and a regal air about him. His eyebrows were thick, like caterpillars stretched over his eyes. His sideburns offered no relief, and were just as thick and unruly. Az caught herself before she could laugh out right, pretending that she had something caught in her throat. Lastly came Wyatt Cain, dressed down as always. He had forgone the duster and had rolled his sleeves up to his elbows in the seasonal heat. His hat, however, remained firmly atop his head. He tipped it to Az and Ambrose as they entered, and Az wiggled her fingers ever so slightly in return, so as not to catch attention.

"Oh, Az!" DG said brightly, clasping her hands together sweetly. "How wonderful to see you here!" She dashed across the room and pulled her sister into a tight hug, a move too saccharine even for her.

"Are you all right, Deege?" Az whispered in her ear.

"Save me," DG whimpered back.

As she pulled back and whirled around to face her Man of the Day, her smile was back, and stretching the limits of her face. "This is my sister, Azkadellia."

"I've heard of her," the man replied, fixing Az with an odd look. He'd obviously heard mixed reports about the elder princess. She held out her hand, and he took it.

"Rumors of my insanity are greatly exaggerated," Az said as he pressed his lips politely against her hand.

"Ah, Az," DG continued, her hands now clutched behind her back, knuckles completely white. "This is Lord Hawll, Duke of the Western Mountains."

"My pleasure," Az said without pleasure. When her hand was returned to her, she discreetly wiped his lipmarks off against the sofa cushions.

"Lord Hawll," DG said, hiding an exasperated tone, "this is Ambrose, my mother's advisor."

"Charmed," Ambrose replied, and a bit of Glitch snuck out in a glare.

"Well," DG said as she spun back to face the room. "This is where we keep all of the books."

"I gathered, since you introduced it as the library," Hawll replied, gazing an eye about the room. "The halls of my fathers in the west hold perhaps three times this many books. You are maybe squandering your space, I think."

Cain narrowed his eyes over a book he pretended to be reading. Az thought of the man on the balcony and again tried not to laugh.

"My favorite books are over here," she said, ushering the man to follow her. He held his spine straight and hands behind his back with a militaristic hitch in his step. Army, Cain calculated. He held a red insignia on his left shoulder, which could only mean that he served in the western regiment of the Royal Army. By his scowl, Cain reckoned that he wasn't a volunteer. Perhaps military school.

"These books here are the ones my father brought over from the Other Side," DG said as she came along a small shelf. "And a couple of mine I managed to get back. Having robots for parents can be very, very useful." She picked up one hardbound volume and leafed through it.

"Other Side?" Hawll asked, shying away from the books as if they were poisonous. "That is rather... odd, Highness."

"Really?" DG asked, glancing up at him. "Lord Garrison thought they were fascinating."

Cain remembered Lord Garrison. He'd worn the Eastern Regiment's black insignia. The eastern and western troops were known for their intense rivalries, something DG must have picked up on. He also knew that Lord Garrison had never set foot in the library. Cain smirked at the Princess's nerve and went back to pretending to read.

Hawll's back straightened like someone had run a lace up his spine. "Garrison did, did he?"

He picked up the book DG offered him, set his heavy brow, and stuck his nose in the book. DG's eyes flashed up to Cain's, and they held a glimmer of mischievousness. Hawll pulled up a plush chair, settled into it, and continued to read.

DG was sure that after a few more moments, he would be completely engrossed and she could slip off with her sister and her friends to do the sorts of things that princesses weren't expected to do--throwing things at castle guards and running away very quickly seemed to be one of the main ways to keep Princess DG entertained. She snuck her way past the reading duke to stand beside Cain, who was watching the man with eyebrows raised.

Cain opened his mouth to say something, probably scathing, but DG pressed a finger to his lips to keep him quiet. Az and Ambrose took the silent cue, and together, the four of them quietly made their way to the upper level of the library.

Once they had come to the small lounge nestled among the tall shelves, DG threw herself down on the loveseat with an aggravated sigh, throwing one arm dramatically over her eyes. Cain perched himself on the arm of the sofa, removing his hat and finally seeming to relax.

"That bad?" Ambrose asked, keeping his voice low. DG nodded under her arm.

"You have no idea. He's got to be the worst one yet." She peeked one eye out to see Ambrose offering the singular chair to Azkadellia, who thanked him with a light bob. Her skirts fluttered around her as she sat, and she leaned in enthusiastically toward her sister.

"How terrible is he? I have to know."

DG sat up slightly, supporting her weight on one hand behind her. "It took him five minutes to introduce himself, where he was from, the names of all his fathers and grandfathers and everyone in his bloodline, how far he could trace his ancestry back, and then--I kid you not--he pulls out his family tree and all these little papers of nobility. Like he's entering himself in a dog show."

Thankfully, the O.Z. seemed to have a rather plentiful and active dog-breeding community, so she had no need to expound any further on that line of thought.

"And he won't stop _talking_," DG moaned, tossing her head back in frustration. "I swear, if he says one more thing about another boring tapestry, and how much better they are in the Western Territories, _I'm_ gonna hang someone off a balcony."

Had she been watching, she would have seen Cain's ears turn bright red, and he returned his hat quickly to his head to avoid being noticed.

"How long do you think we have until he gets bored of the book?" Ambrose asked, shooting furtive glances around to be sure they weren't followed.

"No worries," DG said absently. "I gave him one of our best Other Sider books. With any luck, he'll be sucked in for the rest of the day."

"What's it about?" Cain asked, having recovered quite quickly.

"Only the greatest love story of all time," DG responded, a far-off look coming into her eyes at the memories that flooded her. "Not to mention the bane of every high-schooler's existence. I had to grow up before I really fell in love with it." She sighed, leaning into the plush cushions of the sofa. "A lowly governess falls in love with the master of the house, and he loves her back, but there's mystery and loads of character development. You'd love it." She smiled brightly up at him.

Before Cain could reply, there was an exclamation from below, and the sad sound of a book hitting the floor. Ambrose jumped at the sound as if it had been a gunshot, looking around for the shooter with sharp, worried eyes.

"Princess!" Hawll's voice echoed in the library. DG's smile fell into a frown once more, and she was up off the sofa in an instant.

"You two stay here," she advised her sister and Ambrose. "This could get ugly."

"It won't get ugly," Cain reassured them as soon as DG had stomped out of hearing range. He took off after her, a hand to his hat to keep it on his head.

"What is the meaning in making me read this?" Hawll asked, pointing a finger roughly down at the poor book. Az and Ambrose watched from the balcony above, and Cain arrived beside DG just as she stomped into place before the duke. "This is utterly ridiculous. Your Other Sider fantasies are purely childish and laughable."

DG slowly picked up the book he had been reading, and her eyebrows screwed down in confusion. "This is Jane Eyre. It's not a fantasy." She handed the book to Cain, and he opened it to flick through the first few pages.

"Whoever this Brontë woman is, she has the most absurd ideas I have ever heard. A woman as a protagonist?" He either scoffed or laughed. "I have not yet met a woman strong enough to hold an intelligent conversation, let alone carry the narrative of a novel."

Just as DG's eyes narrowed to a dangerous thinness, Cain snapped the book shut with a loud report.

"I knew it," Ambrose whispered harshly in Az's ear. "I knew I didn't like him. Now I have an excuse!"

"What was that?" DG asked, her voice somewhere between dark and low.

"Women have a place," Hawll growled back. "Not to go dancing about the countryside like gallivanting idiots!" There was something in his voice that told of more disapproval than he mentioned. He, along with everyone else in the O.Z., knew of DG's exploits before the double eclipse.

"Watch it, buddy!" DG spat, her finger shooting out to point accusatorially at the center of his chest. "Like it or not, you're _talking_ to a woman, a woman who has more power in her pinkie than you have in your whole thick head!"

Hawll's hand shot out to grab the hand that pointed at him, his face going dark red in anger. "How dare you speak to me like that!" At the pressure Hawll applied to DG's hand and wrist, she gasped and tried to wrench her hand away.

Cain's fist flashed out of nowhere and cracked against Hawll's face, wherever it could get a holding. The duke's nose uttered a loud, painful crunch, and he fell to the ground at the sheer velocity and force behind Cain's punch. DG nearly stumbled backwards as Hawll's grasp on her had been suddenly lost, but Cain was quick to place his free hand in the small of her back to keep her upright.

"You all right, DG?" He asked, hovering concernedly over her. She could only look right up into his eyes and nod, so very slowly. At that moment, every knight in shining armor was upstaged by a Tin Man in an old hat.

"Outrage!" Hawll shouted as he held a hand to his battered nose. He clambered to his feet. "This is simply outrageous!"

Cain fixed him with a deadly glare, and unthinkingly held DG tighter against his side protectively. "Say that one more time, and I swear I'll hit you again."

"Barbarian," Hawll accused, dabbing a white handkerchief at his nose. "Loathsome little insect! You dare to challenge me?"

"Give me a place and I'll hand your ass right back to you," Cain growled.

"Cain, maybe that isn't be best--" DG was interrupted, no matter how helpful her interjection might have been.

"Palace gardens," Hawll spat, wiping at his bloodied nose. "Before this very window. Tonight at moonrise, with pistols. My aide Deegan will be my second."

"I'll be there," Cain said with a heated glare.

"You have a bodyguard too wild for his own good, Princess," Hawll grumbled as he walked past her.

As the door slammed behind him, DG turned to face Cain, which wasn't difficult considering their closeness. "Cain, what the hell was that?"

"Some thanks I get," he muttered, checking to be sure Hawll hadn't injured her wrist.

"No, not that," she replied, her own cheeks going hot. "Thank you for punching the duke for me," she said, and her smile grew.

Az and Ambrose were down the stairs and rushing toward the two of them as Cain dropped her hand back to her side. "Wow, you should've seen it from the air! It was even better up there!" Ambrose exclaimed, looking bright considering the circumstances.

"I'll be your second, Mr. Cain," Az said quickly. "I'd like to take a swing at that misogynistic son of a--"

"Thanks for the offer, Highness," Cain said with a tip of his hat, "but I'd get fired for putting either of you two in danger. I'll find someone."

"Count me out," Ambrose was quick to say. "I hate guns. All cold metal and..." He shivered at the mere mention of holding a pistol.

"That's what I meant!" DG cut in. "What the hell is _that_?"

"A gentlemanly duel," Cain responded almost flippantly. "I shoot at him, he shoots at me, someone goes down. It's real simple, DG."

"You could die!" DG asked, her eyes going scary wide. "No way. Nuh-uh, I'm using my princess powers and calling it off."

"Look," Cain said, meeting her eyes in a way she was sure wasn't supposed to melt her insides the way it did. "He either takes a shot at me when I'm facing him and I have a gun in my hand, or he takes his shot when I'm not expecting it, when it could put you in danger. I'm choosing number one. Now," he said as he adjusted his hat, "I've got to find me a second. Princess." He bowed slightly as he left her side, striding out toward the door.

Moonrise came, and lanterns were lit about the garden. Cain didn't come alone. Jeb was at his side, looking worried and also rather annoyed that his father had gotten himself into this situation at all. DG had been waiting for him outside his room when he had been hoping to sneak out while she was asleep. And he, like so many men before him, couldn't resist the puppy eyes she pulled out on him.

"I refuse to let you die for me while I'm not there to see it," DG insisted, slipping her hand encouragingly into his. He was thankful for the low lighting, or else she might have seen his burning red ears.

When the three of them arrived in the garden, just below the bay window of the library, they saw that Hawll and his entourage were already there and waiting. It seemed as though he'd brought an entire caravan of servants, by the number of men and women surrounding him in the lantern light. Cain shrugged his coat off of his shoulders and reached for the gun at his hip.

"Good evening, pig," Lord Hawll snapped loudly. A few of his nearby men chuckled, but the majority remained silent. "Which is to hold the gun when I've killed you?" He asked, eyes flicking between DG and Jeb. "The princess, or the boy?"

"My son," Cain announced, straightening his back to match Hawll's confidence.

"Son, eh?" Hawll sneered down at them. "Let us hope he's not an impudent whelp like his father."

"Watch it," Jeb growled, and only Cain's hand on the boy's arm kept him from leaping forward. "You're just gonna let him talk to you like that?"

"They're just words, Jeb," Cain said lowly. "It's his bullets I'm worried about."

"Ten paces," Hawll said as he strutted out to the middle of the clearing between them. Cain made to step forward to meet him, but DG held him back. He turned to ask her why, and he felt her press a nervous, shaking kiss against his cheek.

"Try not to die," she said, pulling back from him to stand beside Jeb.

Cain's mouth hung open for nearly half a minute before Hawll's angry voice pulled him from whatever his reverie had been. Jeb didn't have to guess very hard.

"I am waiting, Mister Cain," Hawll growled. Cain turned and walked to meet Hawll, shaking his head and adjusting his hat for no reason. "Ten paces, turn and fire," the duke snipped. "And should you die, I should let you know that I will not kill your son. Let us hope he lives to revive the shame attached to the name of Cain."

"We've got different ideas on shame, Lord Hawll," Cain said as he turned again. Their backs pressed against each other, and Cain noticed that the man was quite a bit shorter than himself. Cain cocked the gun at his side.

Hawll's aide Deegan counted off in a loud voice that didn't seem as though it should come from the small man's mouth. Cain took wide, halting steps, keeping his eyes from the sidelines where Jeb and DG watched with jaws cemented shut with worry. The numbers came slowly, and it was on their ninth step that he heard DG cry out piercingly.

Cain hated to think on what would have happened if she hadn't. At her shriek, Cain turned slightly to one side to catch her in his line of sight. When the bullet tore through him, it didn't hit his heart, as had been the plan. It buried itself instead into Cain's upper arm, turned to where his mid-back would have been only a split second before.

The Tin Man stumbled at the force of the bullet and the fire that spread quickly up and down his arm. There was chaos and confusion on the sidelines. Jeb had to forcibly hold DG back from running in and pounding Hawll for all she was worth. Hate boiled up behind Cain's eyes, and his gun hand whipped out and pointed straight at Hawll. He popped off a single shot, and the man fell with a strangled cry.

Cain held a hand to his bleeding shoulder in attempts to staunch the pour of blood. Someone was shouting for a medic. He somehow pulled himself to stand over the sprawling, injured form of Lord Hawll, Duke of the Western Mountains. Cain clicked the hammer of his gun back a second time, and Hawll whimpered. Cain had hit him in nearly the same area he'd been shot.

"You ever touch her again," Cain growled, his voice strong despite its low volume, "I'll know, Hawll. And it'll be more than a bullet in your shoulder. It'd be somewhere that counts. The brain's a nice place to start."

Hawll tried to spit some venomous comment back at him, but Cain placed his boot square in the middle of the man's chest, squeezing the breath out of him. The wearied Tin Man leaned heavily on his knee, causing a painful gasp from the man under his heel.

"You're a filthy coward," Cain said, waving his gun about in a nonchalant way. "And cowards have a way of sneaking back into my life and trying to kill me several times over. I'll tell you this, Hawll. Last coward that tried to kill me off ended up in a tin suit for two months. The one before that was dead by hanging in Central City square. The list goes on. If you wanna be the next on the list, by all means, go on and say what you're wanting to say. I've got a gun in my hand, and I'm pretty pissed about the bullet you put in me."

Hawll's mouth remained shut, even after Cain removed his foot from the man's chest. Decidedly unmanly tears were leaking down into his unruly sideburns, from the pain and the sudden fear the Tin Man was able to bring about.

"Do I need to shoot you again?" Cain asked, his breath now heavy.

Hawll shook his head. His second, Deegan, scooped the man up under his arms, and the duke whispered something to his aide. Deegan made a face, then fixed his eyes on Wyatt Cain.

"My master has proclaimed you victor of the duel. He wishes you the best with your thorny, unusual princess." With that, the medics arrived. Half of them were concerned with the health of a foreign dignitary, and the other half had to pry Cain away from the arms he'd stumbled back into.

He was quite sure that blood loss was making him light in the head, and when he'd lost his footing, he was even more sure that the hard ground was going to be rushing up to meet him. He was slightly confused when a soft, feminine something appeared behind him instead. He felt a steadying hand on his chest, and another wrapped around him from behind. They almost knocked heads, which would have been almost amusing if he wasn't worried about bleeding to death.

"DG?" he mumbled, blinking until her blue eyes appeared near his.

"Oh my God," she whispered, the bullet wound now incredibly close and real. "He shot you! He really shot you!"

"Been shot before," Cain grumbled, noticing the way she fit against him, all flush and close and pressed against his back and side. He was quite sure that he liked it, and it wasn't just all the blood squeezing out between his fingers. "I can handle it," he assured her with a lopsided grin.

"You got shot because of me," she shook her head, and her hair brushed against his neck in a way that made all the remaining blood in his body fill his face.

"I'd do it again," he said, hardly aware that he was forming words at all. "Someone's gotta protect your honor of you're not gonna do it."

Her hands tightened protectively on him, and her fingers dug into his chest in a way he _knew_ he liked. A low rumble passed through his chest under her hand. His hand absently trailed up to meet hers, sandwiching her fingers to his chest.

"I didn't die," he continued. "That's also your fault."

He didn't get to say anything else, as the medics finally pried them apart. He was laid onto a stretcher, his hand still clutching to his wound. DG ordered them to wait for just one more second. They could only do as the princess ordered, but they exchanged worried glances with each other at the state their patient would be in when they finally got to do their work.

"I'm calling it off," she said pointedly, laying her hand again on his chest. His fingers entwined with hers, an odd smirk on his face.

"Calling off what?"

"The suitors. They can all go to hell for all I care. The way things are going now, you're gonna get shot up again if I keep parading these guys through here."

"Thanks for caring, DG," he said. "I think I'm gonna pass out soon, so could you hurry it up?"

She blushed furiously, bright red even in the dim lantern lighting. Cain managed a laugh before he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it once. "You're a handful, Princess."

They carted both Cain and Hawll away back into the castle for immediate treatment. DG paced away her red, heated blush before she returned to Jeb's side and they followed the medics together. When he asked what his father had said that made her all flustered, she waved him off and asked some inconsequential question about western-eastern rivalries again. Jeb sighed, knowing it to be nothing more than the defense she brought up whenever talk of his father came about. Smirking lowly to himself, Jeb launched off in a military-flavored diatribe that he knew she wasn't listening to. She was focusing far too hard on the hand Cain had taken to his lips, and trying not to smile like a giggling schoolgirl.

* * *

AN: I'm back! Woo! Is it weird that as soon as I finish Guardian, I have an idea for Heart of Gold/Tin? I dunno, this came into my head kinda by random. I'm not sure if I have anything to say about this chapter, really. It's muuuch longer than the ones I usually get up for this story, so there's something for you. As always, lemme know what you think, if I've lost it after all the time away from this ficlet group. (and sorry to anyone who doesn't like Jane Eyre. One of my faves ever :D) Leave me some sweet, sweet love, and if you have any brilliant ideas you'd like to see played out. Love all of you, and welcome back to the world of ficlets. Huzzah, and STAY AWESOME!! 


	13. Cain sneaks around far too much

_In which Cain sneaks around far too much_

She supposed that it was his Tin Man training that let him move around so quietly and swiftly. If she'd had it in her, she would have made a joke about moving quickly for his age or something else rather immature. Then again, it seemed the perfect attribute for the newly appointed Captain of the Guard. If anyone needed to move quick and quiet, it was him. This did not keep her from hating when Cain snuck up on her.

It came with the job that he had to sneak around the palace, to hear whispered conversations that may or may not have been plotting the downfall of the royal family. His sharp ear was another thing she marked about him that came in handy. Except, again, when she was involved. A quick, quiet, keen Tin Man was exactly what she didn't need hovering around her, but it was exactly what she got.

A whispered conversation in the far-too-large kitchens with her sister was interrupted when Cain leaned across from behind her to snatch up one of the breakfast tarts that had been laid out on a plate on the counter she was leaning on.

"Morning, Princess," he said near her ear, then proceeded to stick the pastry into his mouth and saunter off elsewhere in the castle. It took DG a good minute to get her heart rate back down and for Az to stop her unwonted giggling.

That very same day, DG had taken a book into the gardens to read, sitting on a carved marble bench and surrounded in flowers sporting numberless colors. To her immense luck, she seemed to have found the one book in the entire library that wasn't an encyclopedia or one of the multitudes of dry history and economics volumes. She munched quietly on an apple as she scanned the words with growing interest and fervor. It was quickly turning into a tightly-wound thriller, and she was rapidly becoming engrossed.

"Afternoon, Princess," a voice said quietly from just over her shoulder.

Of course, she jumped, dropping both book and apple at the sudden and unexpected greeting from behind her. She whipped around just in time to see Cain's own surprised expression staring down at her before he wiped it clean.

"Sorry," he admitted, though he couldn't hide the smirk in his eyes.

"Don't_do_ that," she implored, picking up her book and casting a sad eye down at her dirt-covered apple.

"Do what?" Either he was dense or he was poking fun at her.

"The sneaking around," she said, waving her hand in a generally circular motion at her side, as if that helped explain. "People don't like being snuck-up on."

"And by people, you mean you," Cain substituted, his hands in his pockets.

"Well, right now, yeah," she offered back, lowering her eyebrows for effect. "But neither does Az, or Glitch, and especially not Raw."

"You asked them?" Cain asked. She almost rolled her eyes; he was such a cop sometimes, asking all the right questions.

"Well, no..." She nearly pouted, but straightened her back in a regal way instead. "But that's what they would say if I did."

His lips finally matched his eyes as a tight smirk stole onto his face. "Whatever you say, Princess."

From then on, it was a game. She knew she never should have let on that it got to her, as it only seemed to encourage him. And, she had to admit, some small, obscure place inside of her was pleased by all the attention--albeit unexpected and jarring attention.

Once in the hallway to the library, returning her borrowed book, he managed to lay a hand on her shoulder and spook her into jumping with a tiny squeak. He gave a terrible excuse of looking for a room he seemed to have forgotten the location of, and she purposefully gave him false directions with a heated little glare. He walked away, and she saw his shoulders shaking with unheard laughter.

Only a day later, she had been sifting around in a desk in one of the studies, looking for a pair of scissors to cut off a rather annoying thread on her blouse which had been bothering her all day. Cain was suddenly behind her, nearly pressed up against her back, and presented the desired scissors around to dance in front of hr eyes. Her defenses flew up and she spun to face her supposed attacker. The laughter was in his eyes as he offered the scissors to her without a word. Her lips pursed up in indignation at being caught off guard once again. She snatched the shears from him and stomped off.

Late that same afternoon, she flipped through a cookbook she had found stored away under a counter. The recipes of the O.Z. were both very similar to the Other Side dishes she was used to, and at the same time the cookbooks held strange concoctions with ingredients she'd never even heard of. Just when she'd settled in, lost somewhere in the desserts, a hand darted out from behind her and flipped the pages suddenly to a picture of a sumptuous-looking chocolate cake. A single finger pointed down at the picture for emphasis, and at the quick movement, DG was again take off-guard and nearly jumped out of her seat.

"That's a good one," Cain's voice came from over her shoulder.

She attempted to slam the book shut on his hand, but he removed it just in time. She could practically feel his chest buzzing with laughter against her back.

"Wyatt Cain, you're incorrigible," she growled, despite the warmness that tickled her insides as she turned to face him.

"Just trying to be helpful," he offered with a shrug. He was off again without another word. DG watched him go, to be sure he wouldn't sneak back around, and curiously opened the book again to the cake he had pointed out.

The following morning, DG opened the door of her bedroom and nearly shouted at the surprise of finding someone waiting right outside the door, hovering so close. He did laugh this time, something she hated and enjoyed at the same time. As soon as the shock of his sudden appearance wore off, she grabbed a pillow and had to hit him three times in the chest before he fled.

DG remained in the company of her sister most of the day, hoping that it would ward off her shadow. It did the job for the most part, and she rather enjoyed the time spent with Azkadellia. It was odd how she could live with a person and never find the time to really talk. Their conversation weaved this way and that, never really staying too long on one subject before ducking into the next one. DG laughed, which caused Az to laugh, and there was neither hide nor hair of Wyatt Cain.

As they turned a corner toward the dining room for a late lunch, DG was sure that he wasn't going to show at all, or at least that he had given up on his ridiculous game. She was proven wrong when she walked right into him with a gasp and a very audible thump of bodies crashing.

He caught her before she could stumble back and fall, or tumble into her sister, but the damnable man was laughing. "I gotcha, Princess," he said assuredly, brightly.

She brushed his hands off of her, flushing very visibly and screwing her brow up in a glare. His smile fell only slightly, and DG felt her scowl slowly slipping away at the way he watched her. Something knotted in her throat that she was so easily manipulated and she simply stalked past him.

Az raised her eyebrows at the Tin Man, and he merely shrugged. DG could feel his eye on her no matter how far down the hallway she was.

She was somehow glad when it didn't stop there. No matter how she tuned into her surroundings, she never predicted Cain's appearance or caught his footfalls. He appeared like lightning beside her at the dinner table, causing her to jump back a few short inches. As way of slight apology, he pulled her chair out for her amidst his silent laughter. She caught her breath and stubbornly shoved her heart back out of her throat.

"You just watch, Wyatt Cain," she said before taking her seat, the game suddenly heated in her eyes. "You can't win forever."

"We'll see," he returned lowly, matching her playful glare and accepting the challenge.

The first time DG tried to sneak up on Cain, he had whipped around and caught her with one arm held behind her back faster than she could have imagined. She fumed and turned bright red at the close contact, and he only shook his head at her efforts. She removed herself easily from his grip, dusting herself off as if nothing had happened.

"You don't sneak up on a Tin Man," he said succinctly.

He paid her back only an hour later when she had sworn she was alone on the balcony. He plopped his hat on her head from behind without warning, and she gave a quick, truncated cry of surprise, her knuckles white on the bannister of the balcony for support.

His laughter grew, and he quickly stopped when she threatened to toss his hat off of the balcony.

He was below, searching the garden for where his hat had been blown off to, mumbling low curses as he brushed aside long-stemmed blue flowers. She failed again to take him by surprise, even when she swore that she had made no noise on her approach.

"Don't even think about it," Cain had warned without even having to look up from his search.

DG made a face at his back, followed by another while he was still looking away. By the time she had pulled out of her third, Cain had turned to face her, his eyes narrowed and eyebrows raised in morbid curiosity. She hid her hands behind her back and tried to act as if she had been doing nothing. After she had taken off back toward the castle, Cain grumbled and returned to searching for his hat.

When he returned to the castle, hat slightly rumpled but firm atop his head, he reached first around the open door and dragged the hiding DG out by her wrist before she could even attempt to surprise him.

DG stomped her foot once, still caught by the wrist. "How do you do it?" She asked, an exasperated tone in her voice.

"You're an easy target," he replied, giving her a sideways smirk that infuriated her and sent a little shockwave of excitement through to her captured fingertips.

"Next time, Gadget," she muttered barely above her breath. Before he could question her allusion, she had dashed off down the hallway.

She tried three more times to catch him off guard, but he was ready for her on every instance. The way he smiled down at her as he shook his head melted her insides, but in the best way. She almost found herself smiling back despite the anger at being caught once again. Twice she almost leaned up and completed their circuit, almost kissed him. Then, she had thought better of it, and twirled away before he could see the thoughts in her eyes. It was better that he didn't know.

The very last time that Cain surprised her, she swore that he nearly had a heart attack.

After a long day of meetings and lessons and keeping on her toes to avoid being caught off guard in any number of the hallways traversed, all DG wanted was sleep. Sweet, sweet sleep that called to her from the plush comforter on her bed. She kicked off her jeans--a form of protest against her mother and the fashion world of the O.Z.--and threaded the blouse up and over her head, not bothering to notice where she'd tossed them. She was headed to her closet to find her nightgown, passing by the main door to her room, when she noticed that it was still open a crack. That wouldn't do.

She took the two steps necessary and laid her hand on the door to press it closed. She gave a short cry as a hand clapped overtop of hers from the other side of the doorway, and she would have jumped back if the hand hadn't been held so firmly over hers. The doorway jerked open slightly to reveal Cain's grinning eyes.

"Hey Prin--" He cut himself off very, very quickly. The smile dropped off his face and out of his eyes as if he'd been slapped. The last syllable fell out of his mouth low and slow, and his mouth refused to close itself after. Had she not been completely mortified, she might have laughed at the redness that crept across the Tin Man's cheeks and tinged the tips of his ears.

Before DG could feel anything else, it was a devilish, mischievous idea that bubbled up into her brain; revenge, and the absolute best kind, while he couldn't do or say anything.

Her hands latched onto the lapels of his coat, and at her suddenness, his eyes went wide and she could swear that he stopped breathing completely. With one swift yank, she brought his lips down against hers and kissed him. She could feel the shock and surprise jolt through him, and her lips twisted up in the knowledge that she'd finally caught him off guard.

It was only meant to be a quick, simple kiss. That was all she'd needed to put him in his place and teach him a thing or two about sneaking up on people. She'd pulled away, victory painted across her lips and smirking up at the man standing before her.

She didn't plan on the cloudy, heated way he stared back at her. She certainly didn't expect his rough hand planted firmly against the smooth skin of the small of her back, pulling her back against him. When he caught her lips again with his, this time there was something hot and hurried in the way he kissed her. Like there wasn't enough of her there to pull into him, against him.

She realized all to late that she was doing nothing to stop him, and more incredibly, that she didn't want him to stop.

They were in the door and her back was pressed up against the post of her canopy bed quicker than she thought possible. His hands felt like fire up and down her arms, her bare back, her sides, through her hair and against her cheeks. She bunched his shirt up in her fists, feeling the strange urge to rip it right open. She didn't follow it--good shirts were hard to come by, and she knew this. With that, her thoughts came to a dead halt as she felt his tongue against hers. If she hadn't melted into him yet, that was the time.

She supposed that she had tried to say something, perhaps something as simple as his name, but it only came out as a strange mixture of a groan and a whimper. His chest rumbled with what could only be laughter in response and he pulled her in tight against him to compensate.

"Dorothy's left slipper!" A voice suddenly shouted from the doorway, a hint of panic and embarrassment laced it the tone. Cain shot suddenly back from DG, stumbling over his own feet and tripping into a nearby dresser, which caught him from falling completely. DG uttered a quick cry of shock and threw her arms up in attempts to cover herself from prying eyes from the doorway. She settled only slightly when she caught Azkadellia--pale-faced and saucer-eyed--standing in the doorway with jaw agape and eyes twitching from her nearly-naked sister to the flustered, blushing Tin Man now halfway across the room.

No one said a thing for a terrible, gut-wrenching moment. Then, lowering his hat to hide his eyes and mumbling something that might've been an apology, Cain brushed by Az and was out the door in an instant.

"Deege?" Az asked after another silence, looking for clarification. Her look of bewilderment hadn't lessened in the slightest.

The younger princess realized that her jaw was moving soundlessly, and she snapped it shut before she looked any more like a fish. "Can... Can we talk about it in a second?" DG was in her closet, throwing on the nightgown she'd nearly forgotten about, followed by a plush robe with a belt cinched around her middle.

"How long is a second?" Az asked, the color very slowly returning to her face.

"You wait here," DG instructed instead. "I'll be back, I promise."

Az knew when something needed to be done, and her mouth pressed closed as she nodded. It wasn't a very enthusiastic nod, but she was nodding. DG was out the door and following closely on Cain's trail.

She found him holed up in a silent side lounge that overlooked the lake below through a large bay window. He was seated facing it, his head in his hands and hat somewhere at his feet. DG was quiet in her approach, but through all her failed attempts to catch him off guard, she knew that he could hear her.

She knelt on the ground beside him, picking up his fallen hat, and proceeded to lean her arms up on knees. He peered through his fingers at her, and she offered a pretty smile up to him.

"Cheer up, emo kid," she said sweetly, placing the hat back on his head.

"I only understood half of that," he grumbled back, removing his hands from his face. He heaved a great sigh. "DG, I shouldn't have--"

"Forget shouldn't haves." She didn't remove her eyes from his. "I shouldn't have been prancing around in my underwear. I probably shouldn't have kissed you in the first place. Doesn't mean that I didn't mean it."

"You... surprised me, is all," he said, looking at her hairline instead of her eyes.

DG's lips turned up again. "Don't forget Az. You tripped across the whole room." He didn't smile, but at least he was looking at her eyes now. "I thought it was impossible to sneak up on a Tin Man."

For a moment, a smirk flickered to his lips. "I was distracted."

When she kissed him again, she was rather sure that she heard him mutter, "Incorrigible," under his breath.

* * *

AN: Hey all, I'm back again! This one, err... Should I change it to PG13 for this one? Nothing really happens, DG's in her undies... I dunno. I think I'll change it just in case. ANYWAY, another thing to randomly pop into my head, and I apologize for perhaps taking liberties with the characters in any way. Thought I'd get that out of the way before I say that I loved writing this chapter. (I had the American Beauty ST running in the background, it's so quirky and random and totally fit the mood of the piece) Poor CDG, always getting interrupted at the best times... Lemme know if anything seems off, or just leave some love if that's how you felt about it. :D Also, BIG NEWS. **YoukaiYume **over at DevArt has the first half of the minicomic for Ch. 11 (in which DG doesn't chose a suitor) done!! The link is in my profile, if you haven't seen it already. It's amazing!! Go there and praise her! Thanks much for sticking with me (you all are so great! I love love your delicious reviews, they're like... cookies... filled with love) and of course, I ask only that you STAY AWESOME! 


	14. Songs are sung out of context

_In which songs are sung out of context_

DG was missing several things from her home back in Kansas. Seeing as a travel storm took quite a lot of magic and effort to whip up--not to mention the possibility of ending up in a completely different location than planned, which her robotic parents were quick to point out--they were a bit of a commodity. She fumed for a day or more in her room, thinking on her drawers of jeans and comfortable shoes, as well as a certain motorcycle that longed to see asphalt again. Not that there _was_ asphalt in the O.Z., but she assured herself that it was the thought that counted.

What she hadn't thought she would miss so much was her music. While back in Kansas, it was always on peripherally, hovering in the background. She had almost stopped paying it any attention, humming absently while sketching or folding her clothes. And while her clothes were terribly missed, she was slowly becoming aware of the perpetual silence in the palace. Everything echoed, and it sent her mind whirling into memories of scary movies past. The cobwebbed mansions _always_ echoed.

It was inevitably the music that she missed the most. The silence pressed in on her ears, and she could only sit and think about the ambience she was suddenly so keenly aware was missing. People went crazy because of less, she muttered under her breath. When she stood next from her bed, a new determination sat inside of her. If her music couldn't tangibly appear in the O.Z., she would have to bring it to her now silent world using her own skills. And those skills were limited to singing, and perhaps whistling. After a brief stint at trying her hand at the latter, she decided that it would have to be singing.

She emerged from her chambers in the morning looking bright-eyed for the first time in a week, smiling and humming absently to herself. Halfway down the hall, she caught herself in a little twirl and nearly bumped into Wyatt Cain, who had been walking in the opposite direction. He caught her by the shoulders to steady her.

"Woah, Princess," he said, searching her quickly, once up and down. "You all right?"

"Just fine," she replied. "I'm gonna sing now, just so you know."

"That's, ah..." He quirked a single eyebrow at her, unsure of how to respond to this information. "...interesting."

"I'll see you at breakfast," she said, smiling warmly. She spun again out of his arms and down the hallway, dancing to the music in her head. He watched her, and, just as she had said, she began to sing.

"She's got eyes of the bluest sky, as if they thought of rain," she sang, twirling to an invisible beat. She met his eyes once, and he was surprised to find his gaze locked on her own blue eyes. "I'd hate to look into those eyes and see an ounce of pain."

She continued to dance, and her words spun around her as she disappeared further down the hall. The last lyric to reach his ears was soft and melodic, and it caught him off guard.

"Ohhh, sweet child o' mine," her pretty voice lilted. She giggled before singing the last. "Ohhh, sweet love of mine."

Cain somehow found it hard to wrench his eyes from her disappearing form, and wondered absently why his heart had skipped a beat. He brushed it off as hunger and went to follow her to the kitchens.

The others had already gathered into the small breakfast nook when Cain arrived. The Queen and Consort usually excused the formalities in the morning to join both family and staff in the kitchens for a light breakfast and warm smiles. Ahamo had pulled out a chair for his wife and sat directly beside her. Ambrose had brought a heavy volume to the table and somehow still managed to be upset when the crumbs from his pastry tumbled onto the pages. Az held a decorative glass of milk to her lips, looking up as Cain entered.

"Good morning, Mr. Cain," Az said, smiling politely. "You aren't singing too, are you?"

"Is she still on that?" Cain asked, looking around for the girl who had twirled away from him only minutes previous.

"I'm only glad she stopped singing that strange song about a big electric cat before mother arrived," Az said with a shake of her head. "I think the pressure might have finally cracked her."

Cain had his mouth open to laugh when DG appeared out of nowhere. She placed a glass of milk similar to her sister's in his hand and went about distributing them to her mother and father as well. She was humming again.

This song was slower, and so was her dance. It wasn't the prancing, twirling thing he'd seen in the hallway. It was as if she'd turned to liquid; all of her movements were smooth and fluid into the next. When she opened her mouth to sing, her voice was much softer, almost as if she didn't want to be heard. But her subdued voice was even more lyrical and melodic than the one he'd heard before.

"Something in the way she moves," DG began, heading off again to fetch herself something to eat from the kitchen, "attracts me like no other lover."

Cain nearly spat his milk back into its glass and coughed loudly to recover.

DG continued, as if she hadn't heard him. "Something in the way she_ woooos_ me..."

"Are you all right, Mr. Cain?" Az asked, setting her drink down on the table. Ambrose wordlessly picked it up and offered it back to her, engrossed in his book. She glared a bit in return and snatched it back.

"Fine," he managed to wheeze in return. He cleared his throat once to regain his voice and shot a look off in DG's direction. She faced away from him, sifting through her options for breakfast. Her hips moved slowly from one side to another in time with the beat, like cool water ebbing back and forth. He watched for one second too long, and his head shot back to stare at the drink she'd given him. It was no good. In his mind she was still dancing.

"Tart?" DG asked, suddenly standing before him with a pastry on a plate between them.

"Ah," he began, his mouth strangely unsure of itself. "Yeah." He took the proffered plate and moved to the table to sit between the princesses. DG helped herself to breakfast, still humming the same tune between bites. Cain hoped that his ears weren't burning like he thought they were.

Cain was much more sure of himself when breakfast had ended, and was quite sure that DG had finished with her singing. She'd been quiet nearly all breakfast, not including the display she'd danced up just before they sat down. He passed it all off as mere fancy and was rather ready to get back to real life.

That, of course, was not allowed. As the family and friends broke apart to their individual duties for the day, DG brushed by Cain on his way out, humming an entirely different tune. Once they were out of the kitchen and into the echoing hallway, DG belted out loudly and suddenly, catching Cain by surprise with a slight jolt.

"She loves you, yeah, yeah, _yeah_!" She practically shouted from three yards ahead of him. She was shaking her hips again. "She loves you, yeah, yeah, _yeah_!" Her notes bounced off of the high ceiling, the walls, echoing back her lovely voice over and over until he was shrouded in it. "And with a love like that--" she punctuated each note with a roll of her hips, and Cain was quite sure that he was red-faced by then, "--you know you should be glad!"

She turned back to him, smiling. Her face dropped slightly at the look he was giving her, one of shock and--could she be mistaken? Surely it was the lighting--just a hint of something yearning. "Something wrong?" She asked for clarification.

He shook his head in return, swallowed something quite visibly, then tipped his hat and peeled off into a side hallway.

Several moments later, Cain was practically ramming his head into the wall to get rid of the image of her lovely, swiveling hips. _She's going to kill me_, he thought to himself; seemingly the only thought he _had_ to himself. This did not bode well for the remainder of his morning. He was sure that he would be dead by the end of the day.

He wasn't sure whether he wanted to confront the girl about her singing and hopefully to stop her from giving him an aneurism or to avoid her completely with cotton stuffed in his ears to keep him from hearing those wonderful notes from her mouth. The decision was made for him as he passed the library. He could hear several of the librarians and their assistants making chiding "shh" noises, but she was undeterred. Morbid curiosity brought him to the door, and he opened the door only slightly to peer inside.

Ohh, she was dancing again. And singing. A deadly combination. However, Cain was quite unable to remove himself from the crack in the door. It wasn't just a rock in her hips anymore. Her whole body was outright gyrating, arms above her head as she rocked out to the music in her mind. A wave went through her torso, chest to hips, and back up in another fluid motion. Something stuck like cotton in his throat, and his mouth was very, very dry.

"BABY!" She shouted, making him jump ever-so-slightly. "My heart is full of love and desire for you!" She waggled a finger at no one in particular, and a certain Tin Man at the door thanked the gods that he had still gone unnoticed. "So come on down and do what you _got to do_!"

Whatever this music was, Cain was now sure that he liked it. He liked it _very_ much. Anything that could make the princess move like that was worth it, and it wasn't long before he realized just how closely he was watching, and how it would look if someone stumbled on him.

"You started this fire down _in my soul_," DG crooned, turning herself until she was almost facing him, hands moving slowly down her hips in a way that brought scandalized gasps from the librarians and a red, heavy heat to Cain's face and neck. "Now can't you see it's burning _out of control_!"

She was suddenly facing the door, and Cain's heart was quickly and painfully lodged in his throat. He allowed himself to exhale when he saw that her eyes were shut in the heat of the dance. "Come on, satisfy the _need in me_," she sang, belting out the notes like it hurt to keep them inside of her. "'Cause only your good lovin' can _set me free_!"

She pealed a bright laugh, nearly collapsing on herself at the finale and opening her eyes at last. For one moment, she swore that she saw the outline of a familiar hat standing in the cracked doorway, but she blinked and it was gone. She simply shrugged, humming the song rather loudly as she scooped up a book to take with her into the garden.

DG walked out of the library, completely missing Cain, who had pressed himself up against the wall behind her to remain unseen. That was entirely too close. Not only watching the princess dance, but dancing like _that_... He allowed himself a good minute to catch the breath her little display had stolen from him. It was a strange tug somewhere low in his chest that made him follow her. He assured himself that it had nothing to do with wanting to hear her and watch her; it was the job, to keep his eye on DG and her sister. He also made a point of forgetting to think on Az's whereabouts.

She had curled up under a tree, the book in her lap. He'd followed the singing, something soft and evanescent compared to her boisterousness in the library. Something melodic and folksy that meandered, syncopation taking low turns in her pretty voice. He didn't reveal himself immediately, feeling like an outsider intruding on something private. She flipped a page, and her voice took a sad turn.

"I want you to love me, he whispers unable to speak," she sang softly, wistfully. Her fingers drew slowly over the paper of the page, and Cain's head spun into thoughts he knew were better extinguished. "And he wonders aloud why feelings so strong make the body so weak."

She paused, and he decided that if there was an opening to step forward out of obscurity, it was then. He untangled himself from the long-stemmed pink flowers and began his slow walk for the tree that she had situated herself under. It was as if she hadn't seen him at all, for her voice continued determinedly.

"Then he awoke now he's scared to death somebody heard," her voice turned up into the high note beautifully, and he nearly stopped in his tracks. Then, a smile curled over her lips as she turned another page. "If it was you and you know her please don't say a word." At the last, she looked up, and the smile fell quickly off of her face. "Oh! Cain, I didn't..." She wasn't sure what she didn't know or hear, and she left it to trail off into silence.

"You, ah..." He took off his hat, and he wasn't sure why. "You didn't tell me you could sing." It was pitiful and both of them knew it.

"There wasn't a lot of time for showtunes while we were out looking for a tiny, magical emerald," DG mused, searching for her smile again. "And besides, you never asked."

He nodded, and he wondered if it would be too forward to take a seat next to her on the grass. "You've got a good voice."

Her smile reemerged, and she looked down at the book in her lap. "Thanks."

He considered the fact that the pause had gone on for far too long. He made the mistake of opening his mouth. "DG, in the library--"

Just as he cut himself off and her mouth dropped open, someone called her name from somewhere far off. She instantly recognized the tone as her Tutor.

"I should go," she said entirely too quickly. She left the book behind and took off past him toward the main doors to the palace. He cursed under his breath in several languages. He placed his hat back atop his head and scooped down to pick up the book she'd forgotten. The least he could do, he decided, was to return it.

"You're not concentrating, DG," Tutor said, disappointment attempting to hide itself in his voice. She could weed it out too easily.

"Did you ever get a song stuck in your head, Toto?" She asked, taking a look over her shoulder. The man's mouth turned down even further.

"Don't think we haven't heard you thundering around the palace." While he kept his frown up for propriety's sake, she could see the smirk in his eyes. "Seems like you have too many songs locked up in there."

"It'd be better if I had a travel storm to scoop up my old CDs," she muttered.

"Let's focus on the here and now," Tutor cut in. "Someday, when you've learned to _focus_, perhaps you can conjure your own travel storm and whisk yourself away."

"Maybe I will," she retorted, turning back to look at her upturned palms.

"Just focus on the light within you," Tutor coached. "Turn everything else out, and let the light flow."

She was, however, having a rather hard time focusing on anything but the songs running through her head. And, though she hated to admit it, the confession that Wyatt Cain hadn't finished in the garden. While she wasn't worried whether anyone else caught her dancing like a fool, the way Cain had walked away from her before led her to believe--

"DG, focus," Tutor urged.

"Well," she hissed, "you're hovering!"

"Maybe we should take a break," the man sighed, holding a hand to his forehead. "Give you some time to work that song out of your head."

"Back home, we call them earworms," DG said absently.

"I'm sure I don't want to know," Tutor returned, throwing one arm up in exasperation and turning for the door. DG remained in the room, Tutor's study, since he had decided to leave her alone. It would be rude to run off in the middle of a lesson, after all. So she remained, all alone and watching the sky out the window. Unsurprisingly, another song wormed itself into her brain, and since she had promised to fill the palace with her music the night before, it was her duty to sing it aloud.

As fate would have it, Wyatt Cain was passing by Tutor's study on his way to return DG's book to the library. He was sure that he expected her to be in there, but he must have been ignoring the fact in favor of grumbling at himself over and over. Her voice stopped him like a brick wall, and he stood in silence for several moments just to listen. It was sweet, a bit sullen, but so wonderful and--he hated to bring out the cliche but he was unsure any other words described it--dulcet.

He felt a fool for stepping for the door, like she was a siren and he was some wayward sailor drawn into her. He pressed the door open effortlessly and found her turned away to the window, leaning daintily forward on the sill and her head cocked to one side.

"Yes, you want her," she sang soft and almost sultry. "Look at her, you know you do."

Cain flushed, suddenly worried that he'd been caught by her astute ears or eyes. Even when he realized that she hadn't spotted him, he couldn't coax his heart back into his chest. It was that song. That song and its wonderful lyrics.

"Possible she want you too," she continued singing, a slight accent in her voice that he couldn't place. "There is one way to ask her." She drew out the notes as if on purpose, to keep him hanging. He was completely unaware that he was stepping out across the room until he was almost directly behind her. "It don't take a word; not a single word--go on and _kiss the girl_."

He was most definitely lightheaded. What was she trying to do, give him a heart attack? Then again, he remembered, she didn't know that he was listening in. Or that he was hovering so close.

Then, her voice changed tactics completely, bumping up into a bright, bouncing beat to which her hips swayed widely back and forth.

"Sha-lala-lala-la, my oh my! Look like the boy too shy, ain't gonna _kiss the girl_!"

He couldn't stand her any longer. His hands were on her hips as they moved before him, pulling her swiftly away from the window and backward against him. She gave a slight gasp as her hips fit perfectly back against his and his arms wrapped around her middle just right.

She turned her head over her shoulder to see who had suddenly grabbed her and made her face go bright beet red. She didn't get to ask as Cain ducked his head in to press his lips full and firm against hers. For one shocking moment, there was nothing, and she was rigid in his arms. He worried for only that one blank moment, but then something in her changed. All of the tension melted out of her without any further contestation and a pleased little sigh escaped her as her eyes fluttered closed.

Her fingers threaded overtop of his as they laid on her stomach and it was all she could do to crane her neck back over her shoulder to keep their circuit complete, to keep on kissing him. His chest rumbled with a low growl against her back and he pulled her hips even further back against him until they were pressed flush up against one another. She felt suddenly that she might overheat, that there was too much blood just under the surface of her skin, and that he was making it boil.

DG broke back for just an instant, leaving him slack-jawed and hazy-eyed as he searched for a reason for her to sever their connection. She turned only slightly, now front-to-front and staring one another down.

"What was that for?" she asked. It was pitiful and they both knew it.

"'Cause you said I wouldn't," he responded, linking his fingers behind her at the small of her back. "'Cause you've been singing all damn day and driving me the best kind of crazy. And your hips." He leaned his forehead into hers. "Oh, gods, your hips."

Something of a mischievous little smirk wound its way onto her lips under the blush he'd put there with his words. "You mean these?" she asked, giving them a slight roll under his hands.

He groaned audibly against her neck at the way she brushed against him. "Yeah, those," he uttered back. He kissed at her neck and worked his way back up to her lips as she threaded her hands back behind his head.

"You like it when I sing, Wyatt?" She asked, purposefully using his first name. It had the desired effect, and he silenced her with his mouth.

When they broke for a breath, between short kisses to the side of her mouth and her jaw, he replied: "I love it when you sing, DG."

Tutor walked back into the room three minutes later to find the princess locked at the lips with the Tin Man, Cain's shirt half open and her hands playing in the blond curls on his chest. He'd had her up against the wall, one of her legs hooked daintily up over his hip and her hair a mess. Tutor's aggrieved voice broke them apart in a hasty manner that had DG laughing to fill the room. When Tutor dragged Cain out by pinching the Tin Man's ear between his thumb and forefinger, DG laughed even harder, joyful tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. She, however, was not spared, and was given the exact same treatment by her wizened old Tutor.

The stern lecture fell on deaf ears as the two sat in front of Ahamo across the consort's wide desk. Sitting on chairs not even two feet from one another, Cain and DG allowed their fingers to intertwine across their short distance. Ahamo didn't see a thing.

DG's singing was only tolerated for another three days, when Queen Lavender nearly pulled her hair out and demanded that _someone_ whip up a travel storm to get the princess her music--hopefully with the noise-reducing earphones that DG had mentioned. This didn't keep her from whispering soft lyrics into Cain's ear when they shared the same breath and held each other close.

* * *

AN: WOO. That was fun. So very fun. Sorry, but it was. Dunno how fun it was to read it, but writing it was AWESOME. Kay, so, I got this idea when I was listening to "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid and I thought omg it's totally a CDG song! Sooo, this wormed its way into my skull and I had a lot of fun writing it. In case anyone's wondering, here's all the songs and artists in order of appearance: **Sweet Child o Mine - **Guns 'n Roses;** Something** and **She Loves You **- The Beatles;** Don't Leave Me This Way** - Thelma Houston;** Green and Gray** - Nickel Creek;** Kiss the Girl** - lyrics by Howard Ashman. They're all on my iTunes, and I love them :D If you knew all of them, I love you. Hope you liked, and hope I didn't miss the mark on this one. (heh, if the last one didn't bump it up to PG13, would this one?) Lemme know what you think, what was good and what was bad, and how it holds up. Love you guys for staying the course with me, I never get bored of CDG :D! Thanks again, and STAY AWESOME! 


	15. Az and Glitch play matchmaker

_In which Az and Glitch play matchmaker_

Cain was brooding. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, as he was liable to keeping any and all emotions bottled up. DG swore that one day he was going to literally explode and shower them in icky little Cain bits. The image made Glitch bolt from the dinner table, hand to his mouth as he turned green.

Imagery aside, no matter how he decided to hide it or go about it, Wyatt Cain was brooding. He no longer walked, but took the vast hallways in a long-legged, stiff stride with his hands shoved into his pockets and back slightly hunched forward. Most found it hard to keep up with him, especially those with legs shorter than his.

DG pointed out that he was, in fact, scowling a great deal of the time. This only caused the edges of his mouth to turn down further, and his voice was slightly gruff when he answered to the effect of, "Am not." He pointedly ignored the way this made her smile, and he_certainly_ didn't reflect it.

Jeb mentioned a permanent line forming between his father's eyebrows when they had caught a chance to sit down together. It obviously took quite a load of self-control to not search out the offending line with his fingers. Cain, instead, furrowed his brow even further and looked at his boots. "I'm getting old," he made the excuse and let it lay at that.

Even Queen Lavender had noticed that the Tin Man was working far too hard. She urged him to sit and take a break with her, to discuss palace matters over a warm and soothing tea. He said nothing at first, because she was the Queen, but his hands were back in his pockets. "I like the work, Your Majesty," he replied and had respectfully left her company.

It was a general consensus that Wyatt Cain was, indeed, brooding like a teenager. It didn't take much spying on the part of Glitch and Az to find out that his moods seemed to coincide with his brushes with DG throughout the day, and, subsequently, the week. The more hours the two of them shared, the more he seemed to trudge about afterward, nearly to the point of dragging his feet.

What was surprising, Az noticed as she and Glitch peered around a jutting corner to spy her sister and the Tin Man, was the way it all seemed to disappear when the two of them were together. His back went straight, his hat tipped up and out of his eyes. His hands weren't stuck in his pockets. And, rarest of all, when DG smiled, the corners of Cain's lips would pull slowly back to reveal his teeth in a kind, gentle smile that no one but the youngest princess could bring about.

The spies pressed themselves up against the wall as Cain retreated from DG, toward the job and away from the girl. Just as he was nearly out the door, he paused with shoulders sagged. One glance over his shoulder, catching DG in his eyes once again, and Az could see everything. That one, sad, wistful look that started in his eyes and wound all through him down to his boots. The smile that broke, leaving his face empty. He shook his head once and disappeared through the door. Only seconds later, he was storming through the palace hallways again.

DG was pining. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she was rather obvious in the way she went about it. DG never could hide her emotions, not when she was a little girl, and especially not now that she was a full-on woman. Cain had brought up mention of flooding the castle from the inside, which she pretended to ignore completely.

She didn't walk anymore. She rather seemed to stumble through her days, dragging her feet with her eyes to the ground. On several occasions, she bumped into royal guards stationed here and there, and once rather unceremoniously crashed straight into Ambrose with his stacks of important papers. It was lucky that he was mostly Glitch that day.

Cain pointed out that she wasn't smiling as much. Counter to his intention, this only caused her mouth to turn down even further and her eyes to grow a sadder sort of blue. "Am too," she protested, looking and sounding anything but chipper, as she claimed to be.

Glitch mentioned the slant which her brow had taken, always upward and concerned. She moved absent fingers across her knitted brows, which only seemed to increase their angle. "I'm just thinking," she told him with a low sigh in her voice. The advisor took on a concerned face of his own, offering his usual, close embrace for comfort.

Even ever-busy Ahamo noticed his daughter's discontent, and he pulled her aside into his private study to speak to her. She hadn't been focused in her lessons, and at dinners she might as well have been a part of the place-setting. Because he was her father, she knew that she couldn't keep anything from him for long. "I have a lot on my plate, is all," she assured him. Ahamo held her tight and whispered comfortingly into her ear that he would hate for his spark of a daughter to disappear into smoke.

Az and Glitch decided that more spying was in order. He had stealth unheard of, and DG had often called him a ninja, much to his confusion despite his piqued interest. Az had taken off her shoes to remain unheard. They tailed DG for nearly an hour, watching her drag her feet about hallway after hallway, one cavernous room into another, until they were quite sure that the youngest princess had been replaced with a cyborg without emotional modifications.

Unsurprisingly, she met Wyatt Cain in the reception hall. Az and Glitch watched from behind a rather large potted plant, and their gazes met in affirmation. All of DG's laconic stupor drained out of her the longer she spoke with the Tin Man. Her shoulders straightened, her hands moved about amicably in speech. She tilted her head to one side as she listened to him talk. And, miracle of miracles, he managed to bring about her pretty, shy little smile that no one else was able to coax out of her lately.

When they broke apart for DG's history lesson, Az and Glitch made sure they were well-hidden as DG headed their way. Just before she disappeared around a corner and into another labyrinthine hallway, she took one last look over her shoulder. Glitch saw everything: the light fell out of her eyes and the little tweak of a smile was destroyed on the instant. Her shoulders fell again, and the sad tilt of her eyebrows reappeared as she watched Cain stalk out of the reception hall in the opposite direction. She uttered a tight sigh and shook her head, turning the corner toward her lesson. In only a matter of moments, she was slumping through the halls again.

Glitch met Az's eye, and the smile between them was bright an brilliant. They linked hands, exchanged a purposeful nod, and stood from behind the plant. Az went off after her pining sister. Glitch trotted after the brooding Tin Man.

Az and DG sat together in the garden after the history lesson, a soft blanket beneath them and a picnic basket between them. The tree overhead threw a cool shadow across them. Az smiled in her sister's direction upon seeing her far-off stare, focused somewhere in the air over Az's right shoulder. Az took a short sip of tea and returned the tiny cup to its saucer and turned to face her little sister with a wide smirk.

"I think Wyatt Cain is in love with you," she said as calmly as if she'd been remarking on the weather.

DG choked on her next gulp of tea, and she thumped her fist against her chest as she coughed loudly into the clearing. She fixed her eyes on Az, who had set her shoulders and watched with a knowing smirk settled on her lips.

"You're kidding, right?" DG asked, her eyes not quite frantic.

Az only raised her eyebrows, as if to say, 'prove me wrong.'

"You see the way he stalks around the palace," DG began, trying to assemble herself after her slip. "Don't people who are in love, I don't know... skip through the flowers and have bluebirds land on their shoulders?"

"Are you paying _any_ attention when he's in the same room as you?" Az asked.

The nervous flash behind DG's eye told Az that she didn't.

"Deege, he's absolutely crazy for you," Az leaned in confidentially. "He looks like someone kicks him in the gut every time you walk away. Have you noticed you're the only one who can manage to make him smile?"

DG thought it out slowly, toying with her teacup. "He never smiled anyway. I don't see how it's any different." Her eyebrows screwed together in a moment of epiphany, and her mouth dropped open as she fixed her sister with an accusatory stare. "You're spying on me!"

"On_ him_," Az corrected, taking another drink. "Mother was concerned that his moping might begin to interfere with his work with the Guard."

"He's not _moping_," DG unthinkingly defended him. "Moping is something delusional little teenagers do when they want attention. He just... has a lot to think about."

"Like a certain blue-eyed little princess," Az countered, her smile returning.

DG blushed, very unlike her, and didn't make another sound for a good, long minute. "I still don't see any bluebirds."

Az's smile brightened immediately. "DG!"

Her head shot up, wide-eyed like an animal caught in high-beams. "What?"

"You pretend to ignore those looks he sends your way, and here you are blushing like a little girl with a crush," Az shook her head, and if she'd had it in her, she might have laughed. "I'm impressed. Or maybe just surprised."

DG's facade fell away almost at once, and she allowed a little frustrated sigh. "All right, fine. He's attractive. He's a rugged, blue-eyed, blond-haired cowboy, for God's sake!" The immediate flusters fell away, and she stared placidly down into her tea. "He's sweet when he wants to be. When he lets himself be. When he's not_ moping_."

"You agree it's moping, then?" Az asked, refilling DG's teacup.

"Unless you have a thesaurus handy," DG murmured. She took a drink as if she were a machine, her mind elsewhere completely. "If he'd cheer up, maybe..."

"Maybe...?" Az drew the word out slowly, motioning with one hand for DG to continue.

Instead of breaking into laughter or letting a mischievous smile break over her features, DG only sagged lower into silence. She stirred her tea, watching the liquid slosh round and round until the silence seemed permanent. Then, much to Az's delight, a slow, quiet smile bloomed over DG's face.

"Hey, Cain!" Glitch said as he finally managed to catch up with the long-legged stride of the Tin Man. "Fancy meeting you here!"

Cain's eyes whipped around to stare him down. "You're following me."

"Right," Glitch muttered. Keeping up was easier with his gangly legs, but if Cain kept his frantic pace, he was likely to lose his stamina. "Where are you headed, anyway?"

Cain's eyes were narrowed at the floor in front of him, and his hands stuffed themselves deeper into his pockets. He didn't immediately answer, which led the advisor to believe that he was trying to think of somewhere to be. "Kitchen," he grumbled succinctly.

"That's back behind us," Glitch mentioned, jerking a thumb over his shoulder.

Cain skidded to a halt, which caused Glitch to thud against his back and nearly sprawl over backwards onto the floor. He somehow managed to catch himself, and he fumbled to retain some dignity. Cain whirled on the spot, and he was quickly staring Glitch down with thin-eyed fervor.

"What d'you want?" Cain asked, always to the point.

Glitch allowed a necessary pause, and just the right amount of sad indignation to appear on his face. Cain sighed with a regretful roll of his eyes, and his rigid posture slumped. He rubbed a hand over his tired face and began again.

"Sorry." He crossed his arms over his chest and met Glitch's eyes with something that wasn't quite as rock-hard and immovable as it had been before. "Something you wanted to tell me?"

Glitch offered the man a sympathetic smirk. "You look hungry."

They stood together in the kitchens, Cain with a welcome glass of water in hand and Glitch trying to hold together a messy pastry. He licked crumbs from the tips of his fingers and waited until Cain had taken another silent drink before he sprang his plan into action.

"I think DG's in love with you," he said, trying his best to sound calm and collected.

He jumped inches off the floor when the glass slipped out of Cain's hand and shattered on the floor between them. Glitch held a hand to his heart as he tried to recollect his breath, and at the same time tried not to laugh at the sight of Wyatt Cain with a full-on blush.

Cain stammered for a moment, then was quick to embarrassedly pull himself together. "Why the hell would you say something like _that_?" Cain asked gruffly. He hoped the kneeling to pick up the fragments of his glass would help to hide the redness that wouldn't leave his face and was slowly spreading to his neck.

Glitch grinned disarmingly, although Cain was clearing paying him no attention. "And you just dropped your glass on purpose?"

"That's not an answer," Cain growled back, placing the shards of glass in a nearby rubbish bin.

"C'mon, Tin Man," Glitch said boisterously in what he supposed was manly camaraderie, "even _you've_ got to see the way she looks at you. Those big, pretty blue eyes, the way she smiles when she sees you."

"She never _stops_ smiling," Cain refuted, though he definitely felt a burning at the tips of his ears. "Just because we're in the same room doesn't mean a damn thing."

"Not anymore," Glitch reminded him. "Dragging her feet around the castle like she's the living dead. You even notice you're the only one she brings out that smile for anymore?"

He hadn't, in fact, noticed until Glitch brought it up. Before he could think on it for very long, however, anger flashed up behind his eyes. "You're _spying_ on me?"

"On_ her_," Glitch corrected, feeling not in the least bit nervous. He could probably take Cain if he'd wanted to. "Her mother was worried that this sulking mood of hers would interfere with her studies."

"She's not _sulking_," Cain was quick to defend her. "She's... stressed. She's a goddamned princess; I'd have more trouble believing she _wasn't_ stressed." Yes, that seemed to work.

Glitch's knowing smile only pulled up further, wide and deep. Cain tried to ignore it, but it was hard to ignore what was hovering right before your eyes and wouldn't give you a moment's space. A nervous twitch came to one side of Cain's mouth, and he gave the ground a good, long, frustrated stare.

"Besides," he coughed, "even if she _was_..." The words escaped him like he was afraid to say them, like there was a curse stuck to them and he was trying to avoid being struck down, "..._in love_... it doesn't make any sort of sense..."

"When does it ever?" Glitch offered back, a light shrug against his smile.

Cain seemed to think very hard, watching a spot on the floor with a deadly scrutiny that might have withered any living object. Glitch waited and waited for anything to happen, for any words or movement, until he was sure that Cain had become an immovable stone. Then, against all reason, Cain's mouth twitched up again--this time into a low, thoughtful smile.

The suns were low on the horizon when they met again. The window behind them was fitted with colored glass that captured all of the rainbow in a single glance. The myriad colors dappled across them as they stepped into the light thrown across the floor of the reception hall. His smirk was small, almost embarrassed, as he made his slow way to her. Her hands were clasped behind her back, something coy and almost childlike.

She had a splash of blue light from the window across her face. Her eyes were nearly lost in it.

They stood with only a foot of air between them, neither quite ready to meet the other's eye. She stared at a patch of purple light on his shoulder. He watched the yellow across her upper arm. As usual, he was the first to speak, and he cleared his throat only lightly.

"So," he said, as if picking up a conversation they'd not finished, "I, ah... I heard something interesting from Glitch earlier today."

"Really?" She asked. "Az had something to say to me a while back, too."

Cain smiled--just the tight, unsure smirk that he always wore, but now she knew that it was just for her. His eyes flicked up to hers, and she tried to choke the little thrill back down into her stomach.

"He told me you're sulking," Cain said, tilting his head only slightly to catch her eyes through the blue light on her face.

DG's own smile pulled up gloriously. "I heard that you're moping."

Cain's eyebrows shot up, and DG fell into laughter. It echoed like a bell around the tall, empty reception hall. He'd almost forgotten how much he liked the sound of her laugh.

"That doesn't sound like me at all," Cain protested, knowing it to be too true. DG allowed a sigh, and she unthinkingly shifted closer to him.

"Yeah, well, a sulky DG isn't the usual order around here, either."

She'd stepped out of the blue light, and her face was illuminated by the single clear panel in the center of the window. She offered him a lopsided smile that sent just the same feeling through his chest as any of her smiles were wont to do. He, too, had stepped into the patch of clear light she was standing in, although he was unsure whether he'd done it consciously or not.

"Anything I can do," he began, and he had to swallow his nervousness to allow himself a full, soft smile, "to help with that?"

She smiled then, so bright and warm, like the suns had been set inside of her and filled her cheeks with a bright pink dawn. As if it was too much to believe, Cain's hand rose from his side to brush his knuckles against one of those rosy cheeks. His hand hovered over the heated skin of her face for a moment, as if to say she could stop him if she so wanted. To answer, she let her eyes flutter closed as she pressed her cheek back against his hand.

His thumb ran a slow course over her cheek, just under her eye, over the blush that had risen there all by his doing. He palmed the whole side of her face, his fingers wrapping gently around to play in the hair where her head met her neck. Her smile spread over her face slowly, taking its time. So, then, did his fingers take their time in outlining her jaw, her lips, her neck leading down into the curve of her shoulder. His hand wound down her back, where he spread his fingers wide to pull her softly against him.

With her hands resting on his chest, she didn't need any more encouragement. Pushing up onto her toes and leaning up into in, she pressed gently forward until their lips brushed against each other. He tilted his head only slightly into hers, and their connection was solidified.

He gave her one more chance to pull back and call the whole thing off. There was a bright light shining in her eyes, and he wasn't surprised to find it shining from within. The tension in him disappeared easier than he thought it ever could, and he gave her an honest, wholehearted smile. She was sure she should have melted. Her arms slipped up and around his neck, and she helped herself back up against his lips. Soft, slow and sweet, with all the time in the world to find how their lips fit together and worked together.

Glitch pumped his fist in the air enthusiastically, and grabbed Az up in a celebratory dance just outside the doors to the reception hall. Once they had waltzed out of earshot, they clapped hands together victoriously, and Az gave a single whoop of triumph. They had turned out to be quite the team.

* * *

AN: Hey all! Long time no see? Weeeeell, let's see. This chapter snuck up on me. I stared this chapter writing something completely different, and then the characters ran away and wrote whatever story they wanted to be in. Just goes to show what can happen when CDG gets so freaking ingrained in my brain. They LIVE there now. (which is good when it comes to writing it, I suppose...) So, tell me what you think of this chapter, because it was the first one I didn't really plan out. But that doesn't mean I don't like it! I like the way it turned out (you win this time, CDG...) but it's all up to you! Does it work? Do I ruin everything forever? Lemme know, I can take it (I think)! Thanks so much for reading so far, you guys rock my proverbial socks! Thanks for sticking with me, and I give you all my love forever! STAY AWESOME all you awesome people!! 


	16. Cain and DG get slightly lost

_In which Cain and DG get slightly lost_

It was always in her to go exploring. She would take one look at the wilderness spreading out before her, and it was all she could do not to cavort out into it and disappear for hours. She'd obviously gone adventuring in her younger days in the O.Z., and if Hank and Emily had anything at all exasperating to say about their ward of 15 annuals, is was that she had a fondness for the outdoors that was too fond for her own good. The nurture units had swapped stories near a roaring fireplace while visiting at Finaqua, causing redness to flood DG's face and laughter to seize several people she'd thought incapable of the sound.

When Hank rolled off the tale of DG at nine annuals returning home covered from toes to eyebrows in thick, black mud with only her tear-trails to tell that she was still in her cocoon, Azkadellia couldn't help her low twittering laughter. She apologized to her younger sister, claiming that it only brought back fond memories of their childhood. DG embarrassedly told her version, in which that asshole Tommy Garret had tripped her on purpose while they were exploring the nearby woods, and she'd fallen face-first in a cold puddle of mud. She had, however, enacted revenge by shoving him backward into the stagnant pool of water nearby, which had steamed over with algae and flotsam to curl even his greasy hair. He'd run home crying like a girl, DG proclaimed proudly.

Only minutes later, Emily had began the story of an older, wiser DG in that same wood, the listeners were ready. At thirteen annuals, DG was just coming into her own as a teenager, and therefore more than slightly awkward. She hadn't quite grown into herself, and she teetered on the edge of womanhood like she'd been dangling over an open chasm. Glitch cleared his throat awkwardly, and quickly chuckled at his own nervousness--the play between Glitch and Ambrose was more than amusing to watch. While DG became more and more woman, the more she rebelled and tucked into her tomboyish nature of her younger years. In a terrific show of resistance, she'd run off to the wood in the middle of the night to sleep under the stars. Hank and Emily had called in Officer Gulch and a small search party and found her midmorning, asleep between two heavy branches of an oak tree.

Queen Lavender laughed brightly, a welcome sound in the dour, dapper attitude that had pervaded the palace of late. Stately duty and the pomp and circumstance of obligation to the throne had robbed her mother of her cheerfulness. DG and Az were glad to see the light return to Lavender's eyes, even if it was at the youngest daughter's expense. Lavender remarked fondly on DG's stubbornness, and how she was so much like her parents, even without memory of them. The wink she exchanged with her daughter was laden with words unspoken, and DG smiled warmly, holding them close to her heart.

The two nurture units worked together to pull the third story from their memory banks--DG had often wondered why Popsicle and Momster could remember every little thing she'd done, good or bad. They finally found their story, and debated only briefly over who should tell it. Emily began, smiling brightly at DG. It had all started on DG's sixteenth birthday, which had been miserable according to the birthday girl's standards. Only her closest friend had appeared, and to stave off the gloomy feelings of the empty house, the two had ventured off into the fields to eventually lose themselves in the surrounding wilderness. The further they went, the more exciting their adventure had been; the more lost they became, the more they found. DG and Danielle had arrived back almost twenty-four hours later, twigs in their hair and muck covering their pretty faces, but looking as if they'd taken on the whole world and won. Victory and the zeal for life was etched on their young faces, and it was more than the nurture units could have asked for to see DG happy on her birthday.

To the surprise of the princess in mention, the stoic Tin Man sitting near the fire uttered a low, delighted chuckle. Her eyes shot to his silhouetted form, unsurprised to see his eyes already on her. He was shaking his head slowly, a white grin playing on his face. "That's DG, all right," he said, almost too low to hear. As if running the story back in his head, the image of muck-coated DG stuck behind his eyelids, he laughed again with a fondness that was much different than her mother's. DG watched the carpeted floor as the warm spark flooded her chest, and she allowed the pleased smile stretch over her lips.

The moon was high and white in the sky, almost full and shedding a silver light on the castle grounds. DG watched from her balcony, taking in the warm summer scent as a breeze stirred through her hair. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking it all in, and opened them again to the scene before her. The moon reflected off of the gentle waters of the lake, the twists and turns of the maze, and the leaves of the nearby forest. The rustling sound of the breeze through the trees sent a thrill up her spine and brought a nostalgic smile to her lips. She _did_ have a way of slipping away, and it appeared that her skill hadn't lessened in the years spent away from the woods.

All she needed in the summer night was a robe thrown over her nightgown, and she slid through the empty, silent palace halls with a childish glee bursting from her chest. However, she hadn't had a Tin Man for a shadow when she was sixteen, and she often forgot how quick Wyatt Cain's ears were. His tired, sharp blue eyes peered out from the crack of his door. He barely had time to jump into his boots and throw on a button-up shirt as he took off to follow her.

Trying to dash after her and button up his shirt at the same time was proving difficult, and he only had time to button halfway before he came to the door DG had left open. The summer breeze caught him off guard, and he wrenched the door open further to let it hit him full on. It caught in his hair, through his half-open shirt, and it took his breath with him. He was sure that losing his breath had nothing to do with the sight of DG dashing across the palace grounds, lit from above so that her hair shone with silver light, and her short nightgown trailed out around her like water. He felt slightly ashamed that in his inability to move for several minutes, he'd allowed DG out of hearing range. Cursing lightly, he took down the stairs, his half-open shirt completely forgotten.

Despite the burst of speed he put on halfway through the garden, she disappeared into the forest before he could call out to her. The tall, dark, foreboding conifers stood like silent guardians of the forest within, and as Cain skidded to a halt just at its border, he felt a very real chill grip his spine all the way to the base of his neck. As he took the first tentative steps in--he must have imagined it--he felt as if he were stepping into ice water, into the grip of the frozen lake at the Northern Island. He nearly stopped, an uncharacteristic tingle of fear stuck somewhere in the back of his brain, but at the thought of DG prancing around alone in the woods brought fire into his head and behind his eyes. The ice melted away inside of him, and he shot into the wood with renewed fervor.

"DG!" Cain called, and a low, sinking feeling stuck in his stomach when his voice didn't echo. The trees seemed too close, and they absorbed any sound that he made.

Contrary to his deadening of sound, in the silence following his voice, he could hear the light, ephemeral tinkling laughter that could only belong to the princess. He was running toward the sound before he could think it out, the sticks crunching under his feet without making a sound. Several yards later, he stopped quickly, his arms windmilling to keep himself from falling over on the spot. He perked up his ears and listened.

She laughed again, and the sound echoed from tree to tree, like the voice itself was leaping back and forth in the high leaves. It came from the left, but Cain was sure that it was also coming from his right.

He turned to look behind him, and where the edge of the forest had been only minutes before was a wall of verdancy. He forced the lump in his throat away, sure that the moon was playing tricks. That, however, didn't explain the simultaneous lack and abundance of sound. Turning again, slowly, he tried to take in his surroundings with as much clarity was possible. All of the trees were white and tall, like thin bones, with tufts of leaves that caught the moonlight like tiny pools of water. The forest floor disappeared into inky blackness, and there was no sound but the remnants of DG's laughter. Cain found his voice and coaxed it out of hiding.

"DG?"

Almost as soon as he let the question escape him, a pale blue light appeared near him, hovering just before the trunk of a tree. It barely flickered, but it wasn't a flame of any tangible sort. Cain scrutinized it from afar, then approached with slow caution. He poked his hand through the light, though it was only barely larger than his whole palm. It dissipated like smoke, and once he'd returned his hand to his side, it reformed into the pale, flickering light.

Before he could stare it down any longer, another one just like it appeared several feet to its left. Cain watched it in silence for a long span of time before he took three tentative steps toward the new light. Before he had reached it, a third sprang into life even further into the darkness of the forest.

He stood stock still, watching and listening, and he narrowed his eyes at the newest of the tiny lights. "DG?" He asked again. The lights twittered and glowed more brightly for a quick moment, then dimmed back down, despite their apparent excitement. His suspicion remained steady, but the growing concern in DG's prolonged absence was more than encouraging. He took the remaining steps to the next floating light, and another popped up further into the darkness, leading him on. The lights came faster, and too soon, they were a blur.

He didn't know that he was running until he stumbled into the rough bark of a tree. He caught himself hard, scraping the heels of his hands and hissing at the stinging pain it caused. He wrenched himself up off of the tree, breath heaving strangely in his chest, as if he'd been running for longer than he realized. For a terrifying moment, the forest seemed to blur in and out around him, and there was a terrible groan of wood scraping and stretching. The blue lights trembled and nearly went out.

"DG!!" Cain shouted, still holding himself up against the tree.

"Cain?" Her voice echoed around him, confused but unafraid.

"DG, where the _hell_ are you?!" Cain shouted, his frustration finally boiling over.

"Don't freak out," her ringing voice coming from everyone at once. Even in the reverberations he could hear her heavy sarcasm.

"I'm not... _freaking out_," he replied, placing growling emphasis on the final words, holding onto the tree for safety.

"Okay, just stay where you are," DG announced. There was something humored in her voice, as if she was hovering on the edge of laughter. "And keep talking. Or humming."

Cain felt embarrassment hot in his cheeks as he began to hum, only slightly off-tune. The ghost of DG's laughter hung like a mist, always there, and yet he couldn't train his ears to her location despite numerous tries.

"So," DG said, suddenly right next to his ear. Cain whipped around to face her, his hands falling from the tree quite suddenly. "What the hell are _you_ doing out here?" It wasn't anger, as his had been. She was sweet and coy and an inch from him. The moonlight caught in her hair again, the one beam that seemed to shine in just on her and light her up with silver. Cain wouldn't let it affect him.

"Coming after _you_," he said, straightening his back to erase some of the embarrassment of being lost in the first place. "Goddamnit, DG, you don't just run off in the middle of the night without telling me! There's plenty of people who'd like the chance to slit your throat, any number of them waiting out here to catch you when you're... you're..._ gallivanting_!"

She pursed her lips, obviously displeased with his word choice. "Nice way to thank the girl who just saved your ass," she muttered, her eyes falling away to his collarbone.

After a tense moment, she heard him utter a long, heavy sigh, and he sagged under her eyes. "Why d'you have a way of making me feel like an asshole without even saying it?"

"It's a woman thing," she replied simply.

"It's late," he said with a shake of his head. "And I was worried." His fingers brushed at her shoulder, lingered nervously just slightly too long, and returned to his side. "And this place..." He trailed off to take a wide, sweeping look at the clearing where he'd stopped. The blue lights had completely disappeared, erasing his path behind him.

"It's full of magic," DG replied, following his gaze. "I can feel it like it's all through me. Like someone took a paint bucket full of magic and just dumped it on this place. We're swimming in it." She shook her head, and a far-off look came to her eyes. "Things move, and they aren't the way we think they are."

"Well," Cain mused, watching the way the moonlight reflected in her eyes just a little too closely, "that explains a lot."

She smiled, and he was quite sure the moonlight was playing tricks on him now. He could have sworn that she was giving him _that_ look. That dangerous 'come-hither' look. He shook away the notion, and looked in the direction he'd come in. "We should get back."

"Why?" DG asked, suddenly put-out. "I didn't make a run for it just so my own personal Tin Man could drag me back kicking and screaming."

"Well, why _did_ you make a run for it?" He asked, still refusing stubbornly to make eye contact.

"The stories," she said absently. "Just to get a good look at this place." Her smile curled up in a blissfully childish way. "To get lost."

The look he shot her was only slightly scathing, mostly confused.

"Besides," DG continued in her distracted sort of voice, "I'd much rather sleep out here, under the stars."

Cain felt himself nodding at her sentiment, his own mind shooting back to his childhood. Campfires and pup-tents, stories in the firelight. His own young, mystified face staring up into the night sky to count the stars as he fell asleep. The same low smile came over his face as he thoughtlessly reminisced, and something in DG felt a resonance in that smile. She returned it without meaning to.

"I know what you mean, DG," Cain began, but by the tone in his voice, she knew there was a BUT coming. "But we're not kids anymore, and I wasn't kidding when I brought up the people who'd want to hurt you."

Whereas the the statement was issued to break her resolve to remain in the wood, she immediately perked up, her eyes practically glowing in the moonlight.

"You're right," she said brightly. "I'm not a kid anymore. So you have no right to tell me what to do."

He sighed and rolled his eyes at his word choice. "I'm bigger and stronger than you. How's that sound?"

She shook her finger chastisingly at him, a knowing smile playing at her lips. "You don't know how to get back out." She grinned even wider at the lost look that fell into his eyes. "Let's make a deal, Tin Man."

"How can I tell I'm not gonna like this?" Cain muttered, just loud enough for her to hear.

"I'll help you back out if you let me stay the night in here," she said plainly.

"No way," he responded with a shake of his head. "Not in the job description, Princess."

"Then you're gonna be stuck here until someone _else_ finds you," she said flippantly, turning her back to him and heading into the darkness that surrounded him.

"Wait, DG," he said quickly, his hand flashing out to grasp at her wrist before she could fully leave his side. "That's out of the question, too."

"What, now _you're_ making demands?" DG asked. "You're not exactly in the 'demands' position, Cain."

"If you don't come back with me," he said, ignoring her completely, "I'll let everyone know what you talk about in your sleep."

DG wasn't sure if all the blood was rushing to or from her face. "How do you know what I'm saying in my sleep?"

"Because I'm the best damn bodyguard you'll ever have, Princess," he replied, now proudly holding the upper ground. "And in the best interests of keeping you safe, I'll go ahead and spill those secrets if you don't drag that skinny little ass back to the palace with me."

DG paused, and she nervously placed her weight on her other foot. "My ass is just fine, thank you." She was too preoccupied to notice the redness that had come into the Tin Man's face. "Come on, then." With his hand still firmly attached to her wrist, she peeled off to her left and pulled him after her. A victorious grin took its place on Cain's mouth, and she trudged forward into the dark forest.

The trees were dark and silent around them, and as Cain had noticed before, they squeezed the air dry of sound. Not even the brush of DG's bare feet in the grass made anything but an inconsequential, dull sound. Her hand had slid tentatively into his, and in the dark silence of the wood, he didn't complain. From his position beside her, his eyes flicked periodically up to inspect her face. The more steps they took, the more concerned her eyes became. Her lips turned down in displeasure, and her gaze followed all the possible paths they could take. She would take her lower lip between her teeth in silent worry, and Cain knew he should be perhaps even more worried. The gesture didn't have quite that effect on him.

"Crap," DG said at once, after what felt like half an hour of pointless wandering. "Crap, crap, crap," she repeated with increasing emphasis on each new iteration.

"What?" Cain asked, stepping even closer to her side.

She allowed a long, embarrassed pause, and she lowered her head to stare at their feet. "I'm lost."

He wasn't sure whether he wanted to sigh in exasperation or simply laugh at the situation. Somewhere, the forest creaked and groaned, shifting again. They'd found themselves in a bit of a clearing, but the dark leaves overhead blocked out the majority of the moonlight. Pools of it peppered the ground at their feet, like the dark forest floor was made of black sky, and filled with pinpricks of starlight. It felt inverted, and Cain supposed that was how the forest wanted them to feel. He ignored how strange the wording felt to him, shaking it off as he looked back to DG.

He opened his mouth to say something--he hoped that it might be comforting, but there was no knowing what he would be able to fish out--but he was interrupted by a sound that was simply too close for comfort. Like it was in the minute space between them, in every molecule around them, in every tree and all the black spaces in between, the sound of some shrieking creature echoed in and around them and reverberated through the air almost as if the sound itself were tangible. DG gave a sharp gasp of fright, and at the same time as she stepped into Cain, his arms went tight and protective around her.

He held her flush against him for several minutes, where neither did anything but breathe and wait. His eyes were sharp, watchful, wary, and his fingers dug into her to keep her to himself and away from whatever or whoever the sound had been. After five whole minutes of tense waiting, the adrenaline drained slowly out of DG's head, and she became very aware of the man she'd been pulled against. He was warm, with blood pumping through him at a heavy, increased rate. His shirt was most definitely half-open, and as her head rested against his shoulder, her breath danced through the exposed blond curls on his chest. One of his hands clutched at her shoulder, the other cradled against her waist, and--though she'd already known it she became ever-so-keenly aware very suddenly--he was strong without being rough.

Once his breath had died down to its normal level, his head went loose from all the tension leaving him like a sink drained of water. He became slowly aware of the girl pressed against him, the unusually pleasing way her body fit into his, and the blue light that slowly filled their clearing. Before moving his eyes to her, he could barely make out the soft, blue lights that had lead him to her in the first place, shimmering somewhere above and around them and mixing with the silver moonlight to create a color he'd never imagined.

He turned his head only slightly, and his cheek pressed softly up against the top of her head. She found her eyes closing despite herself, feeling oddly lightheaded.

"You all right?" He asked, his voice rumbling under her ear in his chest and his breath teasing the hair around her temple.

She nodded, never lifting her head away from him, then added in a quiet voice: "I feel kinda weird..." She left it to trail off, noticing that the sound seemed to have come back into the world. Their voices didn't echo, but they weren't muffled or trapped anymore. She also finally took notice of the faint blue light that surrounded them, and she lifted her head just barely off of him to take it into her eyes.

The moonlight made his hair almost white, and the soft blue light that seemed to have taken hold of the clearing matched his eyes exactly. She felt their closeness, their noses nearly up against one another.

"Yeah," she heard him say, sharing a breath between them. "Me too."

"Why'd you come after me, Cain?" she asked, some strange need to hear words from him in this new, wonderful proximity.

"I wouldn't know what to do with myself if something happened to you, DG," he said, unusually sincere in the soft light of the moon and the evanescent blue lights. "Especially on my watch." Was the wood pulling sincerity from him?

"Why are you so worried that something will happen to me?" She persisted, where she might have stopped a long time ago in any other situation.

"I couldn't stop what happened to Adora," he replied, and his frankness nearly stopped her heart. "I'll be damned if it happens again."

He was watching her too closely, and she was far too sensitive to the way his eyes felt on her skin. He pressed slightly forward until his forehead rested gently on hers, and her eyes drifted closed at the warmth that spread down through her. The fear of the sound that had brought them together was completely washed away by a new, bigger, stronger feeling altogether. She was sure that if it took up any more room in her chest, she was going to simply explode.

"DG," Cain said, almost too soft to hear. It was enough to open her eyes, staring back into the blue that met her. "I think I'm gonna kiss you." He sounded dark, low and husky--almost breathless, as if in their proximity, she'd stolen it from him.

She felt hazy with emotion, and that strange, swirling feeling the woods seemed to have put into her. She watched him with eyes half-lidded, searching those wonderfully blue eyes. "I think I'm gonna let you."

The anticipation of an instant nearly killed her. The moment his lips pressed tentatively against hers, she was gone. The blue lights surrounding them seemed to glow even brighter, and the clearing was filled with their soft light. DG's eyes fell closed again, and her arms went up around his neck to keep her standing after her legs had gone weak and useless. Her lips moved back against his as she pulled them tighter together. He gave a great, longing groan against her mouth, and all bets were suddenly off.

The heat of his open mouth, his tongue along her lower lip, made her dizzy in the head and brought her own answer bubbling up from somewhere deep inside of her. Some part of her brain marveled at the sound she made, but on the whole she was far too occupied with Wyatt Cain's mouth to be of any use at all. She slid her tongue in to meet his, and he welcomed the intrusion wholeheartedly. They both snatched at a breath and dove into one another.

It was slower than she imagined it might have been. Films always played up those scenes, with mouths open, panting like dogs, clothing flying and fists wildly clutching at anything they could get a good hold on. She was wooed by the slow way he searched her mouth, the steady way that he kissed her all soft and deep and left her a useless pile of nothing in his arms. She'd expected him to treat it as he treated everything else--rough and to the point. He was anything but, and it made the butterflies in her chest flap even faster. Not to say that it was tame and passionless, the way he bunched her robe in his hands and drove forward as if afraid she would pull back away from him. She clutched back, to assure him that she was most definitely staying.

When he began to back off, trailing lingering kisses to her lips, she made a tiny whimper of protest. He kissed her once just under her eye, catching his breath and pressing his forehead against hers again. She decided that it probably was a good idea to breathe, and followed in suit. The tiny blue lights twinkled like stars around them.

Then, as she nestled her head into the crook of his neck, she laughed very softly.

"What's so funny?" He asked, his voice and his fingers in her hair.

"This place," she muttered against his neck, placing a lingering kiss of her own there, much to his enjoyment. "Like it wanted us to come together. With the lights and the funny feeling..." She trailed off, as thinking on that funny feeling made her eyelids inexplicably heavy. "I'm tired, Wyatt." It bubbled out of her before she could say anything further.

"Yeah," he replied, his knees slow to give out on him. "Me too."

They came to the ground together, she tucked up against his chest and he with arm wrapped protectively around her. She nuzzled her nose where his shirt gaped, and he kissed her warmly atop her head.

"DG," he said after a moment, against the tiredness that seemed to suddenly strike them.

"Hmm?" She could find words, but she supposed that she didn't have to.

"I don't care if it _is_ this place," he said right into her ear. "I've still wanted to do that for too damn long." She felt him laugh quietly, and she loved the feel of the sound through his chest. Her smile was too bright, too lovely, that she was afraid that she broke something behind Cain's eyes. Their second kiss was just a slip of a thing, but she knew that it was all Cain. There was no bit of the woods' magic in that, and with the blue lights dying down around them, sleep came all too easy.

The search party had included nearly the entire castle, especially with the news that her bodyguard had also disappeared. They made two sweeps of the interior, then spread out into the gardens and the castle grounds beyond. It was Jeb and his small contingent of men that ventured into the forest and found both Princess DG and her man Wyatt Cain, dead asleep under a flowering tree. Awakened at an unnatural hour, Jeb had no qualms in kicking his father's boot until he, too, had been stirred. His reward was seeing his stoic father red in the face as he tried to explain away his proximity to the youngest princess. DG woke slowly, and, placing a gentle hand on Cain's arm, dissuaded him from speech.

Being led from the forest in the daylight was easier than either of them had imagined, and downright embarrassing upon the discovery that they had been, in actuality, a mere fifty yards from the edge of the forest. Cain thanked all his lucky stars that the Queen had experience with magic, and was likely to believe their crazy story more than his son had. DG fitted her hand into his, threading her fingers through his in question. The way he smiled back at her assured her that there was no question at all.

* * *

AN: Hey there, everyone! I'm back, and with more awesome/ridiculous/omgwhyareyoustillwritingthis CDG fluff! I really can't get away from them. I've found that it's quite impossible. And they keep filling my mind with impure thoughts. The sort that's like "If you don't write this chapter, we will start fornicating in your brain." And I don't need that on my conscience. Anyway, this was the result of a sleepless night followed by an exhausting day and another nearly sleepless night. College is awesome, but the schedule sucks sometimes. I watched a Neal McDonough movie (Ravenous, in case anyone wonders which one) and it got me back into the swing of things. So, tell me if this is a really weird concept, if you wish I'd never written it, or if for some reason you really love it. Thanks for reading, everyone, and every bit of love you've sent me is stored in a place in my heart. Much love, and STAY AWESOME!! 


	17. There are three very different kisses

_In which there are three very different kisses_

Cain was surprised when DG leaned up onto her toes and kissed him. He was a little more that surprised, but shocked seemed too harsh a word, and seemed to connote some sort of displeasure. He was sure that displeasure had no place in that kiss. When she lingered on past any normal period of time, his eyes rolled closed and he leaned heavily back down against her lips. His head was full of nothings, and he was sure that if he'd opened his eyes, the world would be spinning around them. Her mouth moved so soft and perfectly under his, matching him for every move he made.

His hands moved slowly to her hips, one on each side, ghosting fingers under the hem of her shirt to brush against flesh. When her hands gripped hard at his upper arms, he nearly stopped. She made a wordless protest and dug deeper into his mouth to keep him with her. He had no choice and met her tongue with his. Lightheaded, heart beating far too fast, holding her hips too close to his own; she was a sensory overload in his hands. Then, when her hands moved up against the back of his neck, into the short hair that bristled there, he was sure that she was trying to kill him.

His awareness of the little slip of a princess in his arms only heightened when she pressed her full body up against his, every little bit of her lining up with him like they were made to fit together. He faltered for a gaping moment, his mouth hanging open as it hovered before hers at the sheer stupefaction she'd sent through him in a wave. He tried to breathe several times, and only when he'd pulled back did he regain the ability.

He wasn't quite panting, but he made sure to gather all the breath he could while he had the chance. DG was looking up at him with eyes clouded over with a sort of desire he didn't want to think about. Blue, like the lake that spread out before them, and staring up at him with nothing but a pure _need_ for him. She must have stolen his voice when she'd run her tongue along the inside of her mouth, for he was having a difficult time speaking. And, of course, when his jaw moved soundlessly, the most wonderful smile curved on her lips.

Two strong, steeling breaths, and Cain was sure that he was just going to break and lean back down into those lips. For some reason, he couldn't tear his eyes from her lips. When he found his voice at last, he felt his ears burn as he actually _stuttered_.

"D-DG," he uttered at last, as if it took a great effort from somewhere deep in her chest. Oh, and that smile of hers only turned up even further.

"Yes?" She asked, almost too coy.

She was too _everything_. Too sweet, too brilliantly beautiful in the light off the lake, too ready and too eager, too trusting, too DG. Too much girl for the Tin Man, and his next breath shook at the realization.

He shook his head once, and DG's smile fell to half its brilliance. He made it disappear completely when he stumbled across the words: "I can't."

Her hands fell slowly from his arms, and he felt cold without them. "Why not?" she returned simply, as if the situation were as simple as choosing a breakfast cereal.

He realized then, of course, that he had no legitimate excuse. She'd emptied his brain, as well as erased all rational thought. Women had that power, and he loved and hated them for it. More of the former, he realized with a low something curling around in his stomach. He blinked far slower than he thought he should have, and licked his lips nervously. Dammit, he could still taste her there, and it was nearly enough to do him in. That something curling up inside of him wanted more of her, to taste her again, to forget that niggling spot in his brain that spoke of rationality and just kiss the hell out of her. That something told him that was exactly what she wanted him to do. The smoky look in her blue eyes, looking up at him and inviting him back in.

"For God's sake, DG," he muttered, effort still deep and throaty in his voice. "You don't just... I'm not..." He shut his eyes for only a moment, to gather any thoughts that he might have left. When he opened them, she was still staring expectantly up at him. "Tin Men don't go around kissing princesses," he said with an unsure air of finality.

"Technically," she said, a hint of melancholy in her voice, "_I_ kissed _you_."

"Same thing," he said quickly. He shook his head a second time, and his body took one untrained step backward. He didn't know what to do with his vacant hands, and for some reason, the world was spinning again. "I gotta..." His sentence decided not to finish itself, and he found no words to insert to make it any better or worse. He sighed long and heavy, and before the dejected look in DG's eyes could take a burning hold in the back of his brain, he spun quickly on his heel and walked away.

He felt slightly sick with every step, and even worse when DG said absolutely nothing.

He was inside the palace before he stepped aside to hold his too-warm forehead against the cool marble of one of the many pillars. He felt too hot all over, like he was caught on fire from the inside and didn't have any water to throw on the flames. So distracted by anything and everything, he actually jumped when Ambrose gave his salutation as he walked by. The royal advisor stopped mid-stride to stare oddly at the red-faced Tin Man, who blustered something about a meeting he knew didn't exist. Cain tipped his hat once to Ambrose and was off without another word. It was for the best--he would have tripped over them at any rate.

Cain was invited to eat dinner with the royal family, as he always was. He politely declined, for reasons known only to him and to the youngest princess. He hadn't meant to catch her in the hallway outside of Ahamo's study, but they met there nonetheless. She looked up without a spark in her normally rambunctious eyes, without a smile or even recognition. She seemed lifeless and useless. It was a spike in Cain's heart, and it must have shown, for DG's face puckered up from tears that wanted to spring from her, and she brushed past him rather brusquely. He didn't turn. He stared up at the high ceiling and swallowed back the words and emotions, pressing his jaw shut too tightly. He wrenched the metaphorical spike from his chest and stepped off in the opposite direction.

The two days following should have killed him, he figured. His heart was tugging him two ways, and neither seemed a viable option to his fevered brain. He was pacing, something he had never really taken to until he'd met DG. She'd caused him an awful lot of pacing. He was sure that after only a few more days, he was going to wear a ditch into his floor.

He'd snapped at Ambrose, who had taken a very Glitch-like hurt into his eyes at the harsh tone. He'd been quick to utter an apology, but he differed Glitch's wondering, concerned stare that seemed to peer into the window of Cain's eyes. He'd always had the shutters latched, the curtains drawn and a menacing sign hanging there: 'No Trespassers' written in dark, crude letters. DG had drawn back the dusty curtains, opened the shutters and replaced the sign with a welcome mat. Cain looked at the floor, avoiding the prying eyes of the advisor.

Cain had only glimpsed DG twice since their brief brush outside of Ahamo's study. She'd passed by his door on her way to the library once, and had seen him pacing with a concentrated fervor. His eyes shot up to see her form outlined in the crack of his door, and for a moment, the both of them paused. He didn't even breathe. She turned her eyes away first, something sad having taken up a home behind them. When she was gone, he realized that he didn't have the strength to go on pacing, and simply sat useless on the edge of his bed. The second time, he caught her walking silently down one echoing hall, arm-in-arm with her sister, both silent. He wasn't sure why his heart raced and flew up into his throat, only that it prevented him from speaking. Twice he almost ran after her in reckless abandon, but both times he quashed it low into obscurity.

The third time, he broke his silence.

It was long past midnight, but he found sleep to be a fleeting and intangible thing since DG had stood on her toes to kiss him two days ago--edging on three. Pacing the foot of his bed had lost some of its luster, and he'd decided to take his newfound activity to the halls. The echoing of his footsteps gave it a bit more heft, more meaning, and he supposed that it was better than the dull thud of his quarters. He wandered the halls for nearly an hour before he found himself outside of a too-familiar door. DG's room.

He hadn't realized he'd slowed until he was at a complete stop, staring at the brass doorknob. He watched it plainly, as if it would have anything to offer him. A sniffle caught his ears, and his head popped up immediately. He decided that it was better to not think it through at all, as thinking had only given him strife for two-edging-on-three days. He turned the doorknob without an absence of sound, but was glad to find that the door opened cleanly and quietly.

Her room was dark and almost silent. The only light came from the moon, spilling in through the open glass doors to the balcony. He found her silhouetted there, and any tension he had left him as easily as a passing thought. Even her outline was beautiful, and it killed him to think he'd missed it for two-almost-three days. Too long. He was a damn fool.

He was behind her before he registered even taking a step in her direction. The night air was cool, a light breeze blowing to catch the scent of her and sent it straight to him. His hands slid around her waist from behind, something slow and tender. Her breath gasped in short, and the sound of tears edged on her voice.

Cain pulled her softly against him, embracing her from behind, and held his mouth just at her ear, the side of his face resting against her hair. "DG, don't cry anymore," he pleaded, his voice low and soft, just a breath against her ear.

As stubborn as she was, three more sobs took her in the minutes they stood together on her balcony. He whispered into her ear words that he simply let spill from him. He didn't dare think them though; thinking only got him in trouble when it came to the princess wrapped in his arms. Words he didn't even register, words that calmed her by degrees. After another moment, she ceased completely, and was left to lean into his embrace and just breathe.

With her head leaned back against her shoulder, she was able to look up and into his eyes--she saw worry most prominently, concern and a dropped veil which had previously covered the track to his heart. It was full and open to her now, and even he knew it. It'd taken nearly three days for it to fall away, and he was sure that if either of them had had to wait another day, they might have simply faded away and ceased to be Wyatt Cain and Princess DG any longer.

"I'm an idiot," he said, finally breaking the silence. The noise she uttered was between a laugh and another choked sob. A sad smile accompanied it, brought on by the way he ran his fingers lightly against the line of her jaw. "And I don't care if you say it. A goddamned idiot who cared too much to care."

"If that makes any sense," she said, with just the edge of it flavored jokingly. She closed her eyes to his touch, and one more tear escaped her eye. He wiped her cheek clear with his thumb, then leaned down to press a careful kiss at her temple.

"I know Tin Men aren't supposed to go around kissing princesses," Cain said in a voice he kept low just for her, "but I can't help but think I wouldn't rather be doing anything else. I just..."

She turned to catch both of his eyes with hers, blue on blue in the darkness. She was ready for another excuse.

"Just promise me you won't cry anymore, DG," he told her, and if she didn't know any better, she could swear that there was the slightest hitch in his voice.

As an answer, she drew her fingertips over his cheek; he hadn't shaved, she noticed, perhaps the entire time they hadn't spoken. Then, another flicker of her smile, the soft one that he loved most of all.

He was the one to kiss her. All he head to do was lean his head into hers, angled just slightly, to catch her lips with his. Just a single, solitary kiss. At first, she did nothing. She stared back at him, and her wide eyes caught the moonlight in a spectacular way. She closed her eyes almost too slowly, and leaned in through the miniscule space needed to recapture his lips.

It wasn't anything like the way she'd surprised him almost three days ago. Sad, and filled with an empty longing needing to be filled. He cupped one side of her face in his hand in an encouraging way, lifting her closer, encouraging the closeness they both needed and wanted. Her breath hitched once, and she pressed forward even further. Her lips parted with his, and for a moment, all they needed was to breathe together.

"Please don't tell me you can't, Wyatt," she breathed into him. Her voice was as steady as she could fix it. "I don't wanna find out if someone can die of a broken heart."

His fingers brushed her bangs away from her face, hoping to catch her eyes only that much more. She was rewarded with a smile that he seemed to have been saving up just for that one moment. It was barely a hint of a thing, but on his face, it was everything.

"If you'd have me." It was all he said. It was more than he needed to say.

He kissed away her sadness, mouths open and tongues dancing in a slow, wonderful way. She smoothed away his edges, strong and sure despite her long-forgotten tears. They knew exactly what the other needed without having to ask, and as DG laced her fingers behind her Tin Man's head, she smiled. That smile she had given to him so long ago at the lake's edge after a surprising kiss. It only melted most of his insides, and a laugh bubbled out of her as he caught her in a spontaneous twirl of an embrace.

Their third kiss was nothing but joy, as if both of them were filled with sunlight in the darkness. Bright and magnificent, it chased away the night inside of them and filled the balcony with laughter, real and imagined. She loved the way that he smiled at her. Like the world had made her just for him, and he was only now discovering it.

* * *

AN: Erm, I know this one is shorter than they have been lately, but it was a quick little idea that caught me when I was watching the football game tonight (dammit, Packers, I wanted you in the Super Bowl! How else am I gonna use that MST3K joke?!). No idea how these things randomly pop up (and two in a day! The hell??) but I can't say that I don't love writing them. Because I do. So very much. This one didn't take quite the fluffy/humorous turn they have been recently. Is that bad? Is this one good? Too short? Full of crap? Lemme know what you honestly think, cause I can take it! (Do I keep my throne as Mistress of Fluff? That's an important one.) Leave me your thoughts, or just leave me some love. I adore your input, and y'all are making me the happiest girl in the fandom, I can pretty much assure you that. THANK YOU so much for reading so far, and staying awesome. I don't think I even have to remind you anymore. ... but for the sake of tradition, STAY AWESOME!! (woo) 


	18. Several letters are written

_In which several letters are written_

The first letter came only three days after Cain had left the palace. DG had holed herself up in her room for reasons she divulged only to her sister and her best friend in the royal advisor. Glitch knocked twice on her door before he let himself in. She was sitting on her bed, wiping at the tear tracks down her face.

"Sorry to interrupt," Glitch said, obviously embarrassed. He held something in his hand. "Post came today. Mostly loads of the boring papers I get to sift through for a week. A letter came for you, though." His lips twisted up into a knowing little smile.

DG walked the space from the bed to the door and took the proffered envelope. She scanned the front of it, and her eyes went wide upon reading the return address. Only one line: Wyatt Cain.

She politely invited Glitch to stay while she read, but he backed out of the room, shaking his head and thanking her. He knew it was for her. Why else would Cain have written to DG and to no one else? He'd failed to mention that last bit.

The envelope opened easily, and she pulled out the letter with only the slightest bit of a flutter in her chest. She was smiling for the first time in three days.

_DG,_

_I've finally reached the Western Mountains, and all I have to say is I wish you were here to see them. I've only been once before, and they only get more impressive, believe me. Jeb's got a full regiment of men out here, and they've given another one to me--not bad for a washed-up Tin Man, is it? We hope it's enough to worry down the rabble left out here, still loyal to the witch. As far as our intelligence goes, they haven't organized anything beyond raiding parties, but there's no telling what can happen on their home turf._

_Don't you dare worry about me. I can just see those eyes swelling up and my favorite princess stalking out to the stables to saddle up a horse. Forget about it. I'm more worried about all the trouble you're going to get yourself in without me there to keep you in check. I asked for your guard personally; he's a good man, if not a very agreeable man. If he gives you any trouble, you write to me and I'll be sure to stare him down real hard when I get back. Make him squirm a little for making you squirm. Not to say you can't take care of yourself. I learned that lesson._

_Only two days gone, and weeks waiting for me here. I'm not looking forward to it one bit, but when the queen asks you to head a battalion of royal soldiers, you don't get to say no. I know things didn't go so smooth when I left, and I wanted to know that you're all right. Don't lock yourself in your room when you don't get your way. When they ask you to eat, eat. If I'm going to miss anything over the next couple of weeks, it's keeping you in line. You have a way of keeping me on my toes, Princess._

_I'll write when I get the chance. Stay safe, DG._

_Wyatt Cain_

He had scrawled his name at the bottom, which only increased the strength of DG's beaming smile. As if she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have been, she gave a quick, furtive look around the room. Then, she held the letter to her chest and held it close, as if the man who had written the words was there himself.

As Azkadellia walked by her sister's room--at Glitch's suggestion no less--she heard a high-pitched squeal of absolute joy that made Az jump with a hand to her heart. When she poked her head into DG's room, she was suddenly overtaken by her younger sister in a tight, breath-shattering embrace. After she had been calmed down, she allowed Az to read her letter.

The next came four days later, in the same dingy sort of envelope that looked as if it'd been through a battle itself, with only one line on the return address. She snatched it from the herald and whisked past the guard posted outside her door. She paused to give him a look--Horace Denham, an older Tin Man who had been suggested by Wyatt Cain himself. She pointed once at him, then tapped the letter twice for emphasis. She disappeared inside, leaving Denham to boggle at her door.

_DG,_

_Two skirmishes later, and Jeb and I are still breathing. Otherwise, it's boring as hell. The mountains are amazing, but staring at rocks is only as interesting as it sounds, and after a while, I start to miss that damn lake more and more. Hell, even those forced long walks in the garden are starting to sound good. The men are soldiers, not a smile to share between them. Maybe when we get back, we can force them to sit through DG-brand sensitivity training. If I miss anything more than the lake and the gardens, its that smile, like you're up to something and won't tell me what it is. _

_It's a hard and lonely place out here, but someone has to do the job. Jeb's finally loosening up and letting me in on the years I missed. All those little anecdotes that make a father proud--joining up with the resistance when he was old enough, taking up leadership when his old commander was killed in action. He grew up without me, but I'm catching up. You'd be proud, Jeb says I'm laughing more._

_It looks like rain, so I should wrap this up before the water gets to it. Hope all's well on your front, even if it's hell out here. It's the least I could ask for. My best wishes to your sister and Old Zipperhead, and keep your chin up. I'll be awful put-out if I come back and find you a different DG than I left behind. Rain's started, so this is my goodbye for now._

_When I get the chance I'll send something your way. _

_Wyatt Cain_

She reread it twice, lying across her bed with her legs kicked up into the air behind her. She leaned on one hand, smiling plaintively down at the words in his scratchy handwriting. If she concentrated hard enough, she could imagine him hunched over a piece of paper in dim lantern light, rushing against the oncoming rain. A look of concentration was etched on his face, and his son was somewhere far off, laughing lovingly at his father.

As she had done with its younger brother, she grabbed the letter up in an embrace. She took both letters and tucked them carefully into her top drawer. She joined Az and her parents for dinner with a sugary-sweet smile on her face, and only Az and Glitch knew the reason why. On several occasions during the meal, DG's eyes would fall to her plate and she would smile so softly to herself. Her parents exchanged a knowing look, and Ahamo felt his own smile turn up.

When she returned to her room, she took up a little stub of a pencil and wrote him a letter in return. On how she was getting on without him, how Glitch had taken to being her bodyguard, despite the ever-present and diligent Denham. She added her secret joy in reading each of his letters into her own, and she didn't realize that her cheeks were burning until she'd affixed the royal seal and handed it off to the porter at the door.

DG waited a week for the next letter, and when it still hadn't come, she began to worry. She paced the front door, waiting for any post whatsoever, and Glitch wrung his hands on her behalf as he sat with her. Two days later, a letter finally came, buried in a pile of Glitch's regular papers and correspondence. He handed her the envelope, and the both let out a long, relieved sigh together as she took it from him. She didn't wait to take it to her room. She took a heavy seat in the tall, wide foyer and opened the letter.

She was surprised when something fell out of it. Glitch picked it up off of the floor between her feet and inspected it shortly.

"What is it?" She asked as he handed it back to her. It was a flower, she realized, and she turned it over in her hands. It was small, the blossom itself no bigger than a half-dollar piece, and colored a wonderful cornflower blue. Its petals, tiny and pointed, radiated out of the smaller, yellow center like a starburst. It'd been dried and pressed in the folds of the letter, and DG simply couldn't take her eyes off of it.

"Oh, I know this one," Glitch said, leaning down to inspect the flower in DG's fingers. "That's a Star's Tear. That's about as rare as flowers get, Deege," he marveled. "Well? What's the letter say?"

DG carefully tucked the flower behind her ear and reopened the letter.

_Dear DG,_

_We nearly lost Jeb three days ago. There was an ambush on one of the smaller routes off of a pass we've cut between villages. Resistors, but not a big batch of them. Jeb took a handful of them down before he was shot from behind. The medics said he was lucky to make it back to the base alive--the bullet was only an inch or so from his heart, they said. He's been healing up, and I've been worrying. Wyatt Cain, the worrier. That's something you're not going to hear often, so fix that in your head. Don't worry about Jeb more than you need to. The worst is over, and he'll be up and fighting in another few days. The ambush shows that the resistors are getting desperate, and we might be out of here quicker than we thought. I hate to get your hopes up, but it's possible._

_With Jeb holed up and healing, I was out and heading his patrols. There's nothing I wanted more than to sit with him, but that's not the way things work out here. We were sent up one of the taller peaks, a tactical height we needed to claim as a secondary base before the enemy got in. Out on scouting duty, I found a little clump of these flowers, and it wasn't long before I was thinking about you. They're a bit like your eyes. One of the soldiers told me that they only grow up here in the higher altitudes, and they're pretty rare as flowers go. I can't say I know anything about flowers, and I hope it makes the journey all right. I've got one stuck in a buttonhole for good luck--either the soldier was being honest about that, or he just wanted to see an old man make a fool of himself. Either way, a little spot of happiness in this gloomy place._

_I'm stuck in the med tent with Jeb, and he's gone to sleep again. It feels like it's always raining out here, and it's not lifting the mood at all. Never thought I'd have to say I miss the suns, but here I am in the clouds, waiting for the rain to stop. I miss the smiling faces, and with Jeb being stuck like he is, it makes an old man feel useless. I hope you're smiling for the both of us, Princess. I read what you had to say on palace life, and as miserable as it sounds, reading it made me feel that much better. I hope you like the flower, because unless you want a rock, that's all you're getting. _

_Thinking of you,_

_Wyatt Cain_

"DG?" Glitch asked, ducking in slightly. "You all right?"

A smile flicked up onto her mouth, and she nodded thoughtfully. "Jeb was shot. He's all right," she added quickly, before Glitch could worry.

"Is that all you're stuck on?" Glitch asked, and she was slightly astonished at the way he could read her.

She removed the little flower from her hair and held it delicately in one hand. An image of Cain came into her mind without being bidden: the gray rain was pouring down all around him as he stood alone in a rocky, desolate place; he was watching the sky, holding her flower's twin between two fingers, rainwater dripping from his hat and into his eyes.

"I miss him," she said simply.

DG placed the flower on her nightstand and lay watching it do nothing far into the night. She fell asleep with all three of his letters on the bed beside her.

Another week went by after she'd sent her own letter, inquiring after Jeb's health and Cain's as well. She had asked about several things she didn't care about, including troop movement and the strength of the resistance. Between the lines, she told him how often she held the flower and thought of him in return.

Az opened DG's door after a polite knock, and she entered carrying another letter with only one line on the return address. DG brightened immediately and invited her sister to take a seat beside her on the bed. Az did as she was asked and watched in silence as her sister opened up the letter.

"You know he hasn't written to anyone else?" Az asked almost blandly. DG stopped for a moment, the envelope half open.

"No," she answered, starting again. "I didn't know that." Something wonderful fluttered in her chest, and she unfurled the letter once she'd retrieved it from inside.

_Dear DG,_

_Jeb's recovered and out-and-about like the young fool he is. There's no stopping him when he's determined. He reminds me of someone, and I'll give you three guesses who. Right in one, who would have guessed? Things haven't cheered up much since I wrote last. If you wrote back, either the porter was shot or disappeared off the face of the earth. That's the trouble in these times. Everyone's shooting at someone, and it's just a matter of time until the bullet's meant for me. Don't even think about saddling up that horse, DG. What'd I say about worrying about me?_

_It's getting harder to focus. Hearing from you keeps me on my toes, and I can almost see you crouched over that desk scribbling your curly handwriting. Makes it that much easier up here in the asshole of the world. I must've read your letters twenty times each, and half of the time, I want to just ride on out of here, back south. It won't be long now. The rain's keeping on, but the resistance is dying out. I'll be back before you can blink, Princess._

The next part of the letter had been scribbled out in very dark, heavy strokes that hid whatever had been there before, and both DG and Az wondered what could have possibly hidden under that black screen. DG's heart twittered and she took a quick swallow to calm it back down and continue with what little letter there was left.

_Looking forward to more from you. Keeps this old man from fading away into the rocks. I'll write if anything exciting happens, and you do the same. I'm having a terrible time trying not to miss you._

_My thoughts and hope,_

_Wyatt_

DG's eyes focused hardest on the last word. One single name, scrawled just a little smoother than usual. She stood suddenly off the bed, leaving Az sitting there alone. She was facing her desk and stood silent for quite a span of time, rescanning the letter and staring despondently at the etched-out words.

"I'm sorry," DG said without turning around. There was something odd in her voice. "But could I be alone for a second?"

"Of course," Az replied. She stood, hugged her sister tightly from behind, and headed for the door. One last look over her shoulder showed DG's brilliant, lovely smile that she knew was saved for one man only--as if he could see her through the letter he'd sent to her. Az's own smile nearly broke into something sad at the ache in her own chest, and she left DG to be alone with her letters.

DG wasn't sure what to write back. It had ended up short and seemingly useless, and she almost wished that she hadn't written it. There was a heaviness in her stomach when she handed the post off to a runner, her letter small and insignificant in the piles and packages that Glitch was sending off to Central City. She sat by the door for hours and simply watched her feet.

It was only another eight days before his letter came. Both Az and Glitch arrived with it, finding DG in the library. She held an open book in her lap, curled up at the wide bay window seat and watching the rain run rivulets down the glass. She looked up as the two entered, and Az nearly laughed at the way her face lit up when Glitch handed her the envelope. She asked them to stay, but both sat further away on a plush little sofa to allow her the space she needed and deserved. The envelope with a single line in the return address was discarded, and she unfolded the paper inside.

Within the first few words, her eyes were wide and, Az was worried to see, filled with what could only be oncoming tears.

_My DG,_

_I don't know if any of my letters are getting through, and not knowing has a way of making me write things I probably shouldn't. If you don't see it, what's the harm in writing it? If you do read it, how does it change things? Would I risk you reading them? What would I be risking if you didn't? You know me. I'm a mostly rational man. It's not in me to write poetry or even any normal sort of love letter. It'd come out all wrong and I'd feel like a damn fool. But that's better than getting taken out by a sniper before I can see you and tell you everything._

_Don't expect me to give you poetry. I can't rhyme for shit, and I'd only embarrass myself. Don't work yourself up for some sappy confession because that's not the way I work, and you know it. I'm not a man of words, and just because I'm writing them doesn't make it any easier. But I can say this. It's killing me to be away from you, DG, like I was shot in the heart. I'm starting to forget the way you smile, and it's tearing me up. You're everywhere in my head, and I can't think straight anymore. That's probably the only reason I'm writing this. I'm a coward by writing it and not riding right in and telling you to your face. Don't hate me for being a coward._

_The fighting's coming to a dead stop soon, and we'll be riding back in at the end of the week, if there's any luck in it. If I'm really lucky, I'll live to walk into that palace again. I can't risk not telling you how I feel if there's even the smallest chance I won't be coming back. I'm not dying while I'm writing, so get down off of that horse and stay where it's safe. I'm out here fighting to keep you safe, and I'd just die if something happened to you when I'm not there to help you. It's one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, and doing it twice would kill me._

_You have me if you want me, DG. That's all there is to it anymore. I wrote this whole goddamned letter, and I feel like my head's going to bust open. I almost hope you don't read it. That way I won't have to hear you say no._

_Stay safe, stay my DG._

_Your Wyatt_

DG wiped her eyes, trying to hide her tears from her sister and the royal advisor. And unwonted little choke of a sob welled up in her chest, and before she could stop it, Az was at her side and pulling her into a close embrace.

"What is it, Deege?" Az asked, her own voice sad and tight. "Is everyone all right? What happened?"

DG's teared turned unexpectedly into laugher. Az pulled back just enough to see the joy sparkling in her sister's tears.

"He loves me," DG said simply, the happiness in her words undeniable. Another bright laugh choked out of her, and she threw her arms around her sister's neck to pull her into a crushing hug. She cried and laughed for nearly five whole minutes, in which Glitch was brought into their embrace, holding both girls in his arms in a way he thought was comforting.

DG wrote only three words in her following letter.

_Wyatt,_

_YES._

_DG_

A month passed without word. DG's infallible cheerfulness since the last letter had fallen off after the second week of silence. In the middle of the third week, her face had gone ashy and pale. Her eyes lost that sparkle that Az had found after the latest letter. She didn't speak as the remainder of the third week dragged on. At the beginning of the fourth week, Glitch found her nearly asleep in the foyer. She was watching the too-large main doors. Post came and went, and there was nothing.

As the week dragged on, DG became a ghost. Queen Lavender pulled her daughter aside and asked her several times what had brought about her mood. DG didn't respond. Ahamo pulled DG into a tight embrace, and she wouldn't let herself cry.

As the month turned over and winter approached, Az brought DG with her out into the gardens. The air was cool, crisp, refreshing. The trees had turned orange and red, and the leaves blew in around them through the breeze.

"Deege," Az said at last, looking from the orchard before them to her sister beside her. "It doesn't mean anything."

DG dropped her gaze to the basket she'd been given. She shook her head once and stepped forward toward the neat rows of trees. Az sighed after her, matching DG's somber, empty look with one of her own. When one heart broke, the other one followed.

They had separated through the rows of tall berry bushes. DG's hands reached in and pulled the raspberries out one by one and placed them in her basket. It was busy work, work to get her out of the palace and back into real life. They'd probably used Az to convince her to do something other than stare uselessly out the big bay window of the library. It was monotonous, just the kind of work for the listless thing she'd become over the time of a month.

One more raspberry--or at least she thought they were raspberries--into the basket. It didn't even make a sound. The next one she pulled she popped into her mouth. Although she didn't smile, the taste was a welcome intrusion in her world of gray nothings. She took another and held it between thumb and forefinger, ready to stick it, too into her mouth.

At the end of the row, she heard quiet footsteps in the crisp grass. She almost wanted to break her silence to tell Az she wanted to be alone. Her eyes flicked up to the end of the row. It wasn't Az.

He was covered in the dust of the road. There was a thin trail of blood from his hairline to his chin on the right side of his face. His bright eyes shone out from his dusty face, and three-day stubble had grown on his cheeks and chin. He removed his hat slowly, and for a moment, no one said a thing.

Then, his mouth turned up, so sad and slow and full of everything that didn't need to be said.

"Hey there, Princess," he said at last. His voice was dry, cracked, and the most wonderful thing she'd ever heard.

The basket dropped to her feet, raspberries spilling across the ground at her feet. She was running before she could tell her legs to move, and she had leapt up into his arms in the flash of an instant.

Her feet were up off the ground, both of his arms around her, holding her close as her tears came. Her head burrowed into the crook of his neck, and she cried. He kissed her cheek and smoothed her hair, whispering her name into her ear so softly and so wonderfully. When he had returned her to the earth, she looked up at him with her wet blue eyes, wordless and trying to choke back the tears. He smiled plainly, lovingly, as he stared back down at her, tucking her hair back behind her ears.

"I got your letter," he said in a voice that almost wasn't there. His fingers against her cheek, her neck, touching her face and hair because he finally could.

Her lip quivered only slightly. Then, like a sunrise after a cold, long winter night, she smiled. "Oh Wyatt..." She wiped away the tears with the back of her sleeve, smiled up at her man, and leaned in perfectly into the kiss he'd already started.

Az stumbled on them quietly, dropped her basket as well, and stood with mouth agape for several moments before they noticed her. DG was smiling, and so was Wyatt Cain, looking as if he'd never belonged anywhere else in the world. Their exchange was brief, concluded with Az excitedly dashing back to the castle to announce Cain's arrival.

DG tucked herself into Cain's embrace, holding him close and tight for fear of losing him again, and carefully avoided the dried flower sticking out of his buttonhole.

* * *

AN: Another long one! Woo! Does that mean that I'm back to form or that I'm just overstuffing my chapters? Oh well. This one came to me when I couldn't sleep (lol, as usual) and I practically fell out of bed to get a paper and pencil before my idea disappeared. I woke up my roomie and she laughed so hard at me... BUT I remembered my idea, so HAH. I actually wrote Cain's last letter while I was waiting for my History class to start today, and I think the guy next to me was giving me odd looks. Anyway, lemme know how it went, because the different format in this one has me a little worried. But I love it! (was listening to the sad tinkly music of "The Others" for that last scene--excellent stuff). No big make-out scene in this one, cause I felt it didn't need it. You guys are seriously like the best fans ever. I don't know what I'd do without you guys, you're seriously so awesome to me. GROUP HUG!! -hughughug- You guys don't need to stay awesome because you already ARE AWESOME!! 


	19. Seven minutes are spent in heaven

_In which seven minutes are spent in heaven_

DG had been avoiding lessons all day. Even with Toto, highly-trained dog senses on full alert, and Glitch tailing her around the palace, she was always two steps ahead of them. Her memories of her childhood must have been unlocked by her training with Tutor, for she was ducking and weaving in and out of secret passages any good five-year-old would have known about.

Both the pooch and the headcase knew when a higher authority needed to be brought in. And Queen and Consort just weren't going to cut it.

"Sooooo," Glitch drew the word out as he leaned as casually as possible on the stable door. Inside, horses were moved in and out of their pens by the soldiers preparing to use them for exercises. Cain looked up blankly as he surveyed the movements, his hat casting a shadow over his narrowed eyes.

"What?" Cain asked. His voice wasn't quite sharp, but Glitch could tell it would only take the slightest push before he went over. This didn't bode well.

"I heard you're a bit of a tracker," Glitch commented casually, looking at something that may or may not have been stuck in his fingernail.

"What, did the Princess lose a slipper?" Cain asked with a roll of his eyes.

Glitch dawdled on the delivery, which made Cain's stomach turn worriedly. "Not so much as... the slipper lost a Princess?" Glitch's voice turned up oddly at the last word, and he automatically took a step backward.

Cain took a moment to process this, and a gray horse brushed by them to leave through the stable door. When it had passed, Cain's eyes were narrowed even further, red with barely-contained fury.

"Glitch," he began slowly, as if to a child who'd broken something very valuable, "did you _lose_ my princess?"

"You know," Glitch began with a twitter of a laugh that sounded just as nervous as he looked, "funny thing--she has _quite_ the way of losing _herself_..."

The way Cain's mouth pressed into a dangerous thin line, Glitch was sure that someone was going to die. Since he was the closest, Glitch was also sure that it would be him. Cain took a long, steady breath through his nose, then took two steps until he was standing directly before the royal advisor. He didn't say a thing; he grabbed Glitch by the lapel of his coat and wrenched him away from the stable door. He took wide, stalking steps out of the stable, dragging Glitch along after him with a grim look etched on his face.

It wasn't until he'd lugged Glitch all the way back through the palace doors that he released the man and roughly prodded a single accusing finger into Glitch's chest.

"Where'd you lose her?" His voice was a growl.

"About two hallways from the library," Glitch replied, wincing. "Toto's in there checking the books, but--"

He didn't finish. Cain stomped away, his hands fisted as if ready for a fight.

Nearly to the library, Cain stopped his heated march and took a good look around. Several doors leading off to unknown rooms, and any of them could hold a wayward princess.

"DG!" Cain bellowed, breaking the silence as if he'd thrown a rather hefty brick at a delicate mirror. Somewhere far-off in the library, Toto yelped in surprise. Much closer, there was a feminine gasp and something heavy and metal crashed to the floor. This was followed by muffled cursing that was very un-Princesslike, but, Cain thought with a smirk that wanted to come to his lips, _very_ DG-like.

He threw open the door that had hidden the noises she'd made, and wasn't surprised to find that she had disappeared. It was an older study, probably used by one of the library staff--though, judging by the dust, not very often.

"DG, if I have to dig to find you, I swear you'll wish I didn't." Cain's voice was more dour than usual.

A pause, and guilty shuffling in one of the far corners of the study. The youngest princess crawled out from under the desk, which had been blocked off with stacks of heavy books. Cain's arms were crossed over his chest, and his mouth was a single, straight, severe line. DG stood, brushing off her jeans, and didn't look up to meet his eyes.

"For someone who snaps at me when I call her kid," Cain said with a frustrated sigh, "you sure _act_ like one, Princess."

"So I wanted to avoid Tutor for a few hours," DG said, crossing her arms to match him. "What's the big deal?"

"The _big deal_," Cain nearly growled, "is that I get dragged out of my work to find an errant princess, one who shouldn't be fooling around in the first place."

At her low look that was something at least akin to guilt, he allowed a sigh, and he unclenched his fists.

"Now what?" DG asked, loosening her hands to her side to hang. "You gonna truss me up and deliver me to my lessons kicking and screaming?"

"Whether you want me to or not, Princess," he replied.

She set her jaw. "Not if you can't catch me first, Tin Man."

She'd bolted away into the back door of the room before he could do anything to stop her.

Cain groaned with a roll of his eyes. "I'm too old for this..."

He took off through the open door after her, holding his hat to his head.

The room that she'd dashed into was nothing more than storage, full of books that called for repair and the instruments needed to take care of them in their old age. DG ducked behind one of the large machines, and Cain swerved around to follow her.

"DG, this is--" he ducked under the machine just as she had done, "--stupid!"

"Then why are you following me?" She shot over one shoulder, and with that, she disappeared into the wall.

Cain, mouth hanging open, skidded before he could slam face-first into the solid wall. One hand moved out in front of him to catch himself from tumbling into the wall, but he lost all control of his balance when his hand simply passed through the wall. He stumbled forward and hit the ground with a loud thud that made DG turn.

She was giggling. Damn her, she was laughing at him. Her voice echoed, and as Cain pushed himself up onto his knees, he could see that the invisible wall had been masking a secret passageway--a simple long hallway, short enough to make even DG stoop slightly. Cain was lucky he'd fallen in, or he would have hit his head on the low overhang. Just when he thought nothing could be more embarrassing.

Quickly, Cain was up on his feet and hunched over in the short hallway. DG quit her laughing as if her voice had been stolen away, and she was quick to turn on her feet and dash away from him. He followed doggedly, grumbling when his hat scraped the low ceiling.

She turned out of the passage and was lost from his sight in an instant. Cain emerged and stood to his full height with a grimace. Left or right were his options, and, as he turned to look behind him, the wall appeared solid where he'd been moments before. They were in a hallway on the second floor, which was odd, since they'd started on the first.

His head snapped to the right at the sound of DG's laugh. He didn't give a second thought as he took off after her.

He rounded another corner to find her dashing into one of the empty rooms in the guest quarters, leaving the door open behind her. He shook his head with a sigh and took on a burst of speed. The inside of the room was dark, but he could make out her moving form as she dove under the bed.

"DG," he groused, but that didn't keep him from ducking down after her. She gave him a wave before she popped down into the trap door she'd opened under the bed. Cain's jaw found itself hanging ajar once again, and he gazed down after her. There was a six foot drop, at most, and she wiggled her fingers up at him before she ducked into another low passage.

His feet hit the bottom of the drop with a loud report that caused DG to squeak in surprise. He crouched down and followed her, his footsteps pounding and hollow in the narrow space. Her laughter was even louder.

"You've got no chance, Tin Man!" She shouted back at him.

"You're gonna hate me when I catch up with you, Princess!" He shouted forward to her. He was surprised that there was no anger in it.

They appeared in the library of all places. And on the upper floor of it, no less. Two assistants were shelving books when DG emerged from the blank wall between two shelves, running for her life with an enormous smile etched on her face. They gave another cry when Cain emerged behind her, looking like a freight train bearing down on the princess.

DG hopped up onto the bannister of the staircase leading to the main floor of the library, and fear shot Cain's heart very suddenly up into his throat. Her name caught in his throat, stuck behind the large obstruction now sitting there. She flashed him a devilish smile before she slid all the way down the railing without a single hitch. She jumped off with a flowing grace that cemented him even further to the floor. With a little twirl after landing, she looked back up at him and gave him the same, teasing wave, curling her fingers as they lay up against her cheek.

Cain somehow managed to shake his mind back into its proper track and he thundered down the stairs after her. Several library assistants had gathered at their odd display, and as Cain chased DG around the stacks, there was no mistaking her laughter and the smirk that had taken tentative hold on his lips.

Once, as she rounded into the reference section, he nearly grasped at her wrist. She was quick to spin away, dashing into one of the side rooms branching off from the library. She left the door open after her. There, they stooped through another secret passageway that lead into another dark guest room. He was mere feet behind her, and gaining. She threw open the door to the closet, the knob glowing as her hand made contact with it.

Just as she spun to close the door behind her, Cain tackled her with his arms around her midsection.

She gave a loud cry, and they both tumbled into the closet, the door slamming shut behind them at their pure velocity. They skidded to the ground, clothes falling on top of them. Cain was laughing, bright and surprising in the absolute darkness of the closet, and she could feel it all through her as his chest pressed in on top of hers.

"Gotcha, Princess," he said, nearly right up against her face. They both seemed to realize this quite quickly, and Cain shoved himself up off of her apologetically.

"All right, fine, you got me," she grumbled, glad for the darkness, lest he see the ridiculous shade of red her face had gone. "Now what?"

"Back to Tutor," he said plainly, grabbing onto a hanging dress to pull himself to his feet. He found her hand in the darkness and pulled her up as well. "And you're gonna sit through your lesson, 'cause I'll be sitting at the door to make sure you don't sneak off."

"My knight in shining armor," she said, only half sarcasm.

Cain pawed around in the darkness for the door handle. Once he'd found it, something else stuck in his throat upon finding that it wouldn't open to his hand. He pulled and pushed and turned and yanked, but it was solid and unmoving.

"Er, DG?" Cain asked, rattling the door and thumping the toe of his boot against it. "You didn't magically lock this door from the outside, did you?"

DG paused. "I think I did. To keep you out." Another paused. "But you tackled me."

"Yeah, I know _that_," he replied. "Can you _un_lock it?"

"Um..."

"I don't like the sound of that..."

"Maybe?"

"Well, come here." She felt his hand take hers and pull her up to the door beside him, and he moved aside until he was standing directly behind her. She placed both hands on the door, and when two minutes passed without anything, she felt Cain's aggravated sigh in her ear.

"Are you letting the light _flow through you_?" Cain asked, his impression of Tutor gone completely flat.

It was DG's turn to grumble. "I don't think I can do it from this side," she said, turning her head only slightly. "Maybe we should yell. Yelling always seems to work."

They pounded at the door for a good long time, interspersed with loud, shouted words that rang in the close closet space. They would pause, ears to the door to listen for any sound of an impending rescue. After five repetitions of this, DG placed her back against the door and slid to the floor, her knees curled up to her chest. Cain gave one more long bout of banging on the door before he, too, gave up and sank down beside DG on the floor.

"This is one hell of a situation," Cain said. In the darkness, she could only hear him thump his head backwards against the door twice, followed by a low grumble.

"Sorry," she said, her own voice dipped in guilt.

Cain said nothing. Then, he elbowed her lightly in the side. "Nah. My fault too. If I hadn't chased you, you'd probably get bored sooner or later."

DG allowed a humorless laugh. "Boy, you've sure got _me_ nailed."

She regretted her word choice, but he didn't react in any way. Perhaps the slang didn't apply in the O.Z.

The silence dragged on too long for her liking. She shifted to get more comfortable, one of her knees resting against Cain's outstretched leg. Her fingers drummed on the floor once, twice.

"I spy, with my little eye..." She trailed off, as if she hadn't realized she'd said it out loud. Cain shifted beside her, perhaps facing her--it was impossible to tell in the blackness.

"What?"

"Oh," DG said, realizing that it hadn't been a thought to herself after all. "Just this game kids would play on the Other Side. When they were bored. Say, if they were in a field, one kid would say, 'I spy, with my little eye, something yellow.' The other kid might guess hay, or something." Her fingers drummed again.

Cain chuckled, his shoulder jostling against her as he moved to get more comfortable as well. "If we could _see_ anything, I might be in on that."

DG laughed lightly in return. "I spy something _black_."

They laughed together, soft and quiet, for only a short time. Too short a time. Cain let his last draw out into a sigh.

"Unless there's anything they played in a dark, locked closet, I think we're out of luck."

It didn't take long for DG to go full flushed red in the face. A nervous laugh escaped her against her will, and she tried amend it with: "Funny you mention that."

"What?" Cain asked. He'd shifted to face her, like he was watching her without seeing.

"There _was_ this... Nevermind." She was shaking her head quite enthusiastically.

"All right," Cain assured her. "It's nothing. I get it."

Another silence took them. She took a long time to focus on every point where they were connected in the dark--her knee on his leg, her left shoulder against his right, the occasional brush of her hand against his arm. She turned to him, a courtesy even though neither of them could see a thing.

"It's stupid," she said as a preamble.

"It's not like I'm doing anything important here, Princess," he said with a presumed roll of his eyes.

"Well, it was a pretty... _popular_ game at boy-girl parties. Second only to spin-the-bottle, I guess."

"_That_ sounds entertaining," Cain rumbled, silent laughter in his chest.

"We'd randomly pick one girl and one boy," she began, feeling light in the head for no real reason. "We'd get them in the closet, and lock it behind them."

"What the hell kind of game _is_ this?" Cain asked, bewildered now.

"Oh, that's just how it _starts_," DG responded. "They're in there for seven minutes. Locked in a closet with a boy for seven minutes." She let it ring hollow in the closet, let it hang for a moment. "You could do anything you wanted, as long as it only took seven minutes. That's when they'd open the door. They called it Seven Minutes in Heaven." After a blank pause of several seconds, she tried to add laughter to the end of her statement. It sounded too nervous, and too close.

"You're kidding me," Cain said at last.

"Afraid not," she replied, and he was surprised at how shaky her voice sounded.

She was quite sure that her heart shouldn't have been beating so rapidly. It was only Cain. Only those cloudy blue eyes, those tight pants and terrific ass. _Oh no, no, no_, she thought quickly, all the blood in her body suddenly in her head and just below the skin of her cheeks. _Not the pants. Anything but the pants. Think about something else. Bunnies. Bunnies don't wear tight pants._

He shifted again beside her, and his leg moved from under her knee, until she was quite sure that he was squarely facing her. She wasn't sure whether her heart had ever quite hammered before, but it was close. Oh, it was stupid. Locked in a closet, lost in the dark, staring down a Tin Man she couldn't see and thinking on things she had no right imagining.

Being inches from Wyatt Cain in the secluded dark had a way of turning her head. Already lightheaded, sure she would float away, she turned just as he had--both facing inward and seeing nothing. Finally, she swallowed nervously and somehow managed to lean in even further.

"What would you do with your seven minutes, Mr. Cain?"

She could hear his breathing stop. It was only for a quick second, but it had definitely stopped. His mouth opened to say something, she could hear the words that didn't leave his throat. Then, nothing.

His hand was against the flesh of her neck before she could register anything else. She tensed at once, and she caught her own breath. Calloused fingers brushed their way up the cords of her neck, finding her jawline and holding her face softly, square to his.

"Start counting," he told her. His voice was warm on her face, and she hadn't realized just how close he was. His lips descended on hers once, twice, then held on the third. She shivered all up her spine, and her fingers found hold on his shirt at his chest. She kissed back; it was all she _could _do, her body taking over when he made her brain go numb.

As if she'd been somehow separated from her brain, part of her shouted _What the hell is going on?!_ and _What are you doing?_ but she was mostly preoccupied with the man working her mouth open with his own. She acquiesced almost too easily, stroking her tongue back against his like she knew what she was doing. She was beginning to see how Glitch could function with only half a brain. She wondered absently if it was as blissful as having your mind torn away by the kiss of a Tin Man.

She didn't realize that he was pushing her down and back until her head came into contact with the floor of the closet. She didn't know what to do with her hands, with his chest pressed close and tight against her own. Their legs tangled until she couldn't tell which were hers anymore. His mouth was wonderful and hot, and no matter how much she needed a breath, she didn't want to break her lips from his.

She finally found what to do with her hands, and she decided that she loved the sound Cain growled when she ran her fingernails through the hair at the base of his skull. They both grasped at a breath and fell back into each other.

When the door rattled above them, Cain and DG both stopped immediately and stared into the darkness at each other with wide eyes that neither could see. She could feel his heart against her chest, and it somehow beat even faster. With a quickness that bested their run through the library, Cain and DG shoved themselves apart and fell against the opposite walls of the closet with a terrible thud. Muffled words on the opposite side of the door, and it snapped open with a bang, throwing a beam of harsh light across the two of them.

Squinting into the sudden light, DG immediately made out two separate outlines. One was--_oh God_--Tutor, who she assumed was glowering down at her. He also must have initiated the counter spell on her locked door. The other spoke quickly, alerting her to Glitch's presence.

"Finally! We've been looking everywhere for you, DG! Hey, Cain, what are you doing here?"

DG realized with a sudden flush to her cheeks that she'd somehow undone the first three buttons of Cain's shirt, leaving it open and gaping to the whole world. She wasn't much better, she found, with her hair an absolute mess and her jacket pulled down around her elbows to expose her shoulders. She was sure without seeing that her lips bore the evidence all over them. She was also glad to see that she wasn't the only one blushing in shame, and the sight of the bright redness in Cain's cheeks was almost enough to wash hers away.

"What's going on here?" Tutor asked in an oddly dangerous voice.

DG's mouth hung open, completely useless.

"Ah..." Cain began, stumbling for words. "I found her," he finished in a dazed voice.

"It's my fault," DG said quickly. Cain's eyes shot to her, and she stood up out of the mess of old clothing. Cain was somehow awkward as he stood to match her, as unsure what to do with his hands as she had been only minutes before.

"Care to explain, Princess?" Tutor asked. She felt the need to glare at him for using Cain's nickname for her, but the more rational part of her brain rationalized that she wasn't only Cain's princess.

"I was avoiding lessons," she said truthfully. "And Mr. Cain went out of his way to find me. I tried to lock myself in here, but he got trapped in, too. Do you want any more explanation, Toto?" She asked, and that hint of authority played in her voice. "I'm more than willing to be dragged off to my lesson now."

Tutor eyed the two of them suspiciously, but with only his gut instinct to go on--and that canine sixth sense he seemed to possess--he had to let it go. That didn't stop him from shooting Cain the stink-eye. Cain straightened his back and tried to look innocent. From the way DG's lips turned up, he supposed that he wasn't very good at it. Glitch subtly motioned to his own buttoned shirt, raising his eyebrows at Cain for emphasis. The Tin Man blustered to button himself up as Tutor turned away, the redness flashing again in his cheeks.

"Come on, then," Tutor prompted, shooting them a suspicious glance over his shoulder.

When Tutor turned his back to them again, Glitch's smile grew bright, and he flashed both Cain and DG a thumbs-up. He saw the way DG's eyes brightened and flicked over to Cain's, and Glitch made as if he had something important to say to Tutor and ran to catch up.

Cain turned to DG, but she was the first to speak, with on hand anchored in the center of his chest. "I'd say it was three minutes. Four if you want to round up."

Her smirk stole the words from him, and he quickly forgot what it was he'd even wanted to say. He quirked his own smile in return.

"I think I like this game," he finally responded. He pulled out before she could dart in for the kiss she'd planned, but as he stepped away, he linked his fingers with hers and pulled her along after him. They followed Tutor and Glitch out into the hallway, fastened together at the hands and dallying only slightly behind.

DG found it increasingly hard to focus on her studies at all when Wyatt Cain upheld his promise and sat at the door to Tutor's study, watching her with a knowing half-grin on his face.

* * *

AN: Heyo folks! Well, the last chapter felt like, y'know, the quintessential CDG I was capable of, and I love it so much, and I've been kind of afraid to follow it up. (besides, the encouragement in reviews for last chapter were so strong and you guys rock and I'm sorry for making you cryyyy!!) Just because anything after it is gonna feel kinda silly to me. SO, I went the completely silly route and decided to have locked-closet-make-outs. Must give props! The premise for this chapter was inspired by **Meredith Paris** in a review written for **Alamo Girl**'s "Home". Also, some bits influence by conversations with **Thayne M.**, so there's a lot of ideas floating around here. I know it's not as great as the last one, but it'd be great if they weren't compared and they're taken for two completely different stories, which they are. :D I'll continue writing as long as I keep getting ideas, so yey! Crap, I hate living up to myself XD ANYway, leave me some love, and anything you think I've completely fudged. Thanks much for reading, and, as always, STAY AWESOME!! 


	20. Cain receives DG's letters

_In which Cain receives DG's letters_

The sun was setting behind the Western Mountains when they reigned up the horses at base camp. It was simple, one of the small mountain villages filled with the dust-brown tents of the royal army they'd brought with them. The village itself looked like it had been bombed out, a shell of a city, and the setting suns filled every crevice with golden light.

Cain watched it with a heavy eye, and, watching the suns reflect off the craggy peaks, and only sighed. The air was crisp and tight in his lungs, and it was so much more than refreshing. He dismounted the horse and found his son leading his own mount beside him, a hint of awe in his young eyes.

"Would you look at that?" Jeb said, shaking his head only slightly.

"It sure is something," Cain replied. After a moment of gawking as the colored peaks slowly turn black before the setting suns, Cain clapped Jeb on the shoulder with a half-smirk. "She's a fickle woman, nature. Don't let her pull the wool over your eyes now; the way those clouds were bunching up, we're like to get some rain sometime soon."

"You've been through the mountains before, right?" Jeb asked, taking another wide-eyed look around, their position in the valley dwarfed by the towering mountains surrounding them.

"Once." Cain allowed an adequate pause in respect. "When I was on the Mystic Man's protection unit. He ran a tour through a few villages here." He smiled brightly at his son, something that didn't happen often enough. "Just a little older than you, I think."

Jeb's lips tugged up once, and his focus was lost somewhere on the ground before him. He allowed another adequate pause, and Cain took it for what it was--so many years separating a father from his son left a large gap that was taking its time to fill. Cain wouldn't push it.

"We'll keep this first day to ourselves, I think," Cain said after they'd tied their horses alongside the others in the makeshift stable. "Send our first scouts out tomorrow, see if we can't roust out some of these bastards. The boys'll need all the rest they can get tonight."

"Yeah," Jeb replied, the hollow look disappearing from his eyes. "Sounds like a plan."

Cain had a tent all to himself, something a little roomier than the troops in their flimsy barracks. A cot and lantern with a crate that served as a bedside table, with the canvas flapping in the chill mountain breeze. He sat on the ground, his back leaning up against the side of his cot, with the lantern dimmed in hope of lulling himself to sleep. He scratched his bare head with the dull end of a pencil as he stared down futilely at the only two letters he'd been able to get down:

_DG,_

He hadn't expected the little twist that knotted up in his heart when he'd put those two letters down. As he stared them down, he couldn't for the life of him decide what to write back to her. The scene of their last meeting played behind his eyelids as he closed them for only a moment, and his mouth took a sad turn. There was sadness somewhere deep in those blue eyes of hers, eyes he knew were burned into the back of his brain. She'd lingered too long after their tight, warm embrace at the stables, and took her bottom lip between her teeth. She'd leaned up and brushed a lonely kiss against the hollow of his jaw and pulled back, her eyes stuck at her feet.

"Come back," she told him. It was a royal command.

"I promise," he replied, pulling out a smile just for her.

He wrote mostly without thinking, wrote about things that didn't matter--the mountains, the troops, his command. It came easier when he wrote about her. He signed his name at the bottom and reread the letter once. Then again. With a sigh, he folded it up and sealed it into an envelope. It went out with a porter the next morning. Wyatt Cain did not sleep well.

The day following, he'd led the first group out into the mountains to scout for the resistance camps. It felt strange to call those defying the queen the resistance, since he'd been a part of a similarly-named group himself, years ago. He took a group of ten men with him, and upon marching into a nearby village, found a pocket of resistors. After a brief and relatively bloodless skirmish, most of the opposing militants were captured and brought back to the base for imprisonment.

Capture or kill, those were the rules. No one escaped. It was harsh, but they were in harsh times. Both Cain men knew it; it'd been a fact of life for both of them, and it didn't look as if things were going to change anytime soon.

The two took watch together that night, sitting around a signal fire that kept them connected to the camp on the other side of the valley. If one fire went out, the other camp was to send reinforcements without question. Jeb was cooking his dinner over the fire, and turned to offer a smile at his father.

"Commander Reggie Collins," Jeb said with a grave voice that didn't match his face.

"Collins?" Cain barked back, laughter strange in his untrained throat. "You're shitting me! That son-of-a-bitch was resistance?"

"Biggest hard-nose I ever met," Jeb replied, looking proud. "He played the Longcoats for information--our first inside man. Not to mention he was my predecessor. He said he worked the Mystic Man's detail with you for a few years."

"Yeah," Cain replied, reclining against the railing of the signal tower. "He walked so straight you'd think he had a pole shoved up his ass."

Jeb joined him in laughter. "That's Commander Collins." His smile fell a notch. "Longcoats found him passing information to the resistance, and the witch had him executed in Central City Square."

Cain sighed, his own smile dropping off. "That's the risk," he said, staring away from the crackling fire and out into the night sky. It was darker than black, and impossible shade of midnight that had been poked through to reveal blazing stars amongst the shadows of mountaintops. Wisps of clouds had started to move in, as Cain had predicted. "We all took it to protect what we loved."

Jeb smiled again, this time soft and sad, and removed his dinner from the fire.

Nearly two days later, Jeb took out his own patrol to scout. Post came in with a haggard-looking porter, and Cain invited him into the mess hall to rest and get in a meal. As he passed letters out to the men at lunch, he was more than surprised to come across his own name on the front of an envelope. Turning it over, he saw the royal seal affixed in red wax. He handed the remaining letters over to a subordinate and walked briskly to his tent to break open the wax seal and whip out the letter.

_Cain_,

_Your letter managed to cheer me up. The mountains sound wonderful, and I wish I was there to see them with you. It took Az and Glitch to hold me back from saddling up and following you after I read your letter. I bet the sunsets there are amazing. I'll be watching the mountains, to see if I can see a little bit of what you see up-close. Don't worry about me, there's no trouble to get into here--you stay safe, and don't let anyone shoot you. You've been shot at enough._

_Denham is smothering me, but only a little. He's a good man, like you said, but he's awful gruff. And terse. And he has less of a sense of humor than you do. And he doesn't wear a hat. I think that I should demand he wear a hat. He doesn't shadow me like you did, and it leaves me feeling lonely sometimes. I almost miss the hovering, hounding Tin Man. Just a little bit._

_Let me know how you and Jeb are doing up there. I feel so out of the loop, stuck back here in the dullest castle in the universe. It's all princess lessons and etiquette. At least you would let me run away to the gardens now and then. That's out. Denham's allergic to most everything that grows outside (or so he claims). I'm in the library most of the time. I can see the mountains through the window there._

_I promise I'm eating. No worries, Tin Man. Stay sharp._

_DG_

He didn't know why he was so surprised that she'd written back. Or why it hurt his face to smile. He ran his eyes back up and over her words a second time, really reading them, and found himself smiling even further. She wrote back.

At a flurry of movement outside, Cain tucked DG's letter safely into his vest and moved the flap of his tent aside. Jeb's men were back, and at least one of them was injured. They were moving him on a stretcher to the med tent. Jeb, however, looked victorious. The men were pulling near-on twenty muddy resistors with them. Jeb rushed over when he caught his father's eye.

"They were planning a raid on the village up the hill," Jeb reported, stashing his gun away. "In the evening. We caught them before they did any damage, but they might have planned to meet up with another group beforehand. Think we should lay in and wait for anyone else?"

Cain nodded. "Send a handful up to where you picked up these fellas. If anyone comes, it probably won't be any bigger than this lot."

Jeb smiled, rightly proud, and finally noticed the piece of paper sticking out of his father's vest. He nodded his head down. "What's that? Correspondence?"

For a moment, Cain tried to hide the letter. He fumbled with a word or two as he pulled the paper from his vest, where Jeb stole it away from him. Cain clenched his mouth shut embarrassedly, the hands wanting to snatch it back balling into controlled fists at his side. Jeb scanned the first few sentences, and his mouth turned up into a bright, nearly childish smile.

"You wrote to Princess DG?"

Cain cleared his throat, and looked somewhere else. "Yeah," he managed. "She had a hard time when we all saddled up. Wanted to make sure she was all right." He was sure to say 'we' instead of the personal singular.

Jeb continued to read, finishing off the letter while his father shifted his weight nervously. The younger finished, and folded the letter neatly, handing it back.

"You're writing back, aren't you?" Jeb asked at last. It wasn't the question Cain had been expecting, but it thankfully didn't throw him.

He nodded in return, and was aggravated that he could come up with nothing but: "Yeah."

Jeb grinned. "Tell her I'm still breathing." He clapped his father on the shoulder, a move that he reciprocated, and walked away to join his men.

The clouds rumbled overhead, and Cain looked up to see that the sky had turned a dull and foreboding shade of gray. Rain was coming.

Jeb found his father scratching away at a piece of paper, his own scrawled response to the princess's letter. The flap of his tent was open, and he was sitting in the opening as he wrote effortlessly. He probably didn't even know that he'd allowed an unguarded, honest smile steal onto his face. The rain started just as Jeb shook his head and laughed quietly to himself. Cain handed the letter to the porter he'd invited in for lunch, a single line on the return address.

The happiness didn't last. Three days after he'd sent his letter off to the princess, Jeb's patrol brought him back on a stretcher. His entire shoulder was red and bloody, and he was unresponsive to any attempts to bring him around. Cain followed them into the med tent and stood by his son even when the medics tried to force him outside. Cain's jaw was cemented shut, one hand gripping hard and steady to Jeb's as he watched the medics dig a bullet out of his son's back.

The rain pounded on canvas, and the light had gone out of the world when Jeb stirred. His eyes blinked open, hazy and trying to focus on anything in the dim light of a single lantern. He tried to prop himself up on one elbow, but he groaned at the pain and flopped back down into his pillow. Cain looked up, groggy and half-asleep himself.

"Hey," Jeb hissed through the pain.

"How are you?" Cain asked. His voice was thin. He'd been worrying. Jeb attempted a smile, and thanked the gods for pain medication.

"I think I've been shot," Jeb replied. Cain didn't laugh. He didn't even twitch a smile. Jeb sank back into the med cot. "And there's quite a lot of pain. But I can breathe, and nothing's broken. I say that's a win."

Cain's shoulders finally lowered, and he allowed himself a relieved sigh. He grasped his son's hand and held firmly, smirking. "As long as you say so."

The elder Cain packed up his gear and turned from his tent to meet Jeb's scouting group. The porter passed him on his way out, and Cain asked about any post for him. The porter sifted through the soldiers' envelopes, and finally produced one with 'Wyatt Cain' written in curling, feminine letters. Only two of the men snickered at the bright smile that flooded Cain's eyes, and he thanked the porter quickly.

He'd wanted to take the letter and hide away in his tent to read, but Jeb's scouts were already suited up and ready to head out. Cain fixed his eyes with his usual stoic stare as he tucked the letter carefully into the inside pocket of his duster. He patted it once to make sure that it was safe, then motioned for the scouts to follow him. The rain was light at first, but as soon as they began to climb the mountain, it came down in a deluge. Cain did everything in his power to keep DG's letter dry.

They were soaked through by the time they reached their appointed peak, somewhere near halfway up the tallest peak, and set their stakes in to set up camp. Cain set up his own tent, all of them bunched together under an overhang to keep the dripping rain from seeping through. The Tin Man checked their surroundings thoroughly for any spots that might hide an ambush--he was especially wary after Jeb had been jumped. He stood at last near the cliff face and sheer drop beneath him, staring out at the curtain of rain before him. His eyes wandered south. If he stared hard and long enough, he fancied that he could see lake country from this height.

Just as he turned to head back to the camp, he spotted something at his foot. Crouching down, he saw several clumps of tiny blue flowers near the cliff edge. They were bright and colorful, unlike the dreary brown and gray that dominated the western mountains. He gently plucked one from the ground and held it up to observe it more closely--the blue was soft and familiar, one that brought a sad ache up from his heart to his throat.

"Star's Tear," came a voice from beside him. Cain glanced up to glimpse a soldier standing nearby, rain dripping off of him. He remembered his name was Tanner. "Only grows in high altitudes. I don't think I've ever seen it in person before."

Cain nodded, turning the flower in his hand to catch it from different angles. No matter how he looked at it, there was no denying where his mind wandered to. Those sad blue eyes staring up at him, so close and despondent. The eyes begging him to stay but too afraid to use the words. The ones she'd burned into his mind, haunting him whenever his eyes fell closed. They were DG's eyes.

"They're good luck, you know," Tanner continued. "They say if a soldier sends one home to his sweetheart and keeps one in his buttonhole, he's gonna make it back home to her."

"Thanks, soldier," Cain said after some time. Before he stood again, Cain pulled another blue flower from the ground and stuck it covertly in his top buttonhole.

He'd hung up his hat and duster to let the rain drip off. Hopefully they'd be a little drier in the morning. The warm, dry wool blanket was pulled tight in around him as he read her letter by the light of the lantern.

_Cain,_

_I'm glad to hear you're both dodging bullets _(Cain nearly laughed at this, but restrained himself on the absent Jeb's behalf). _Who would write to me if you got shot? If you die, I'll kill you, Wyatt Cain._

_Denham's been replaced. Well, sort of. Glitch took it on himself to take up the job of being my bodyguard. He figured that Denham wasn't doing a good enough job. Glitch does a wonderful impression of your bodyguard scowl. He doesn't smile the same, though. Weird how I can miss something I barely saw in the first place, huh? With Glitch looking after me, I can get out even more. It's not raining here, but the clouds are coming. Az says the rainy season will set in soon, if they're not already there. Keep your hat on, you can't fight crime with a head cold._

_I want to hear everything that's going on up there. Not knowing makes me worry, and I'm not a worrier. In between the boring lessons and the boring Tutor and the boring princess duty, there's plenty of time to worry. Your letter was the most exciting thing in days. If I was any good at actually riding a horse--I know, I know, stay safe. You have to swear you'll do the same, or I swear I'll do a balancing act on the balcony._

_Enough about me. If you talk about me once in your next letter... I've run out of things to threaten you with. Glitch says he knows 25 ways to kill a man with just two fingers. Maybe I should just threaten you with Glitch. I know I wasn't exactly chipper when you left, and you being away isn't helping to cheer me up much, but hearing from you at least lets me know nothing terrible's happened. It means a lot to me._

_Don't forget your promise._

_DG_

Cain found himself laughing. In the gray rain, surrounded by stoic soldiers and lifeless rock, his son lying in a med tent far away, Wyatt Cain was laughing. Half of it was the mirth at her new appointment of bodyguard and the general peppy DG attitude that seemed to pervade the entire letter. The other half was something different--a low, almost sad chuckle that settled in his chest to nest with his heart. After a time, his lips fell closed, stuck in a low smile he wouldn't allow anyone but her to see. As if the letter were a window to her, and she could see him right through her words.

His thumb traced the two letters that made up her name, and he decided that he'd never liked those two letters as much as they warmed him now. Like the rain outside didn't exist, and it never existed, and he'd never even left the palace grounds. Like his son hadn't been shot, and he hadn't left the blue-eyed girl staring after him in the royal stables.

He didn't expect the way his throat went dry and his next breath caught. He cradled his forehead in one of his hands, shutting his eyes tight. She was waiting for him there, in the darkness behind his eyelids, that sad, expectant look as she lingered too long. He opened his eyes before she burned those eyes even further into his mind. Still with his head in his hand, he read the letter again.

He couldn't explain why he wanted to memorize every word, to play them over and over in his head in his sleep. To saddle up his horse and just leave this miserable place--back to lake country, back to Finaqua; back to DG.

The answer was too jarring and made his heart beat far too fast. He gently folded up DG's letter and set it beside his bedroll. After another moment's contemplation, he took the first Star's Tear out of his pocket and laid it on top of her letter. As he climbed into the sleeping bag, he wasn't quick to turn out his lantern. He fixed his eyes on the flower, watching him quietly atop the words from his princess. He smiled again, somehow against a dull ache that had settled itself in his chest. When the lantern went out, he listened to the wind and the rain and thought of sad blue eyes.

He wrote his next letter three times. He couldn't decide on what to tell her, or how to word anything without sounding desperate and lonely. The first paragraph always stayed the same--to leave DG in the dark about Jeb's injury would be downright insulting. He crumbled up another useless piece of paper and tossed it across the tent with an irritated grumble. Tanner ducked his head into Cain's tent upon receiving permission. He found the commanding officer holding a pencil between his teeth and glaring down at the paper in his lap as if it had threatened his life.

"Sir?" the soldier asked.

"At ease." Cain gave him an absent wave without looking up from his half-a-letter.

"Permission to speak freely, sir?"

Cain nodded, removing the pencil and tapping it on the paper. His anger turned slowly to frustration, the worst and most desperate kind.

"If you're writing home to your sweetheart, I'd send the flower right away. Let her know you're making it back home to her. Don't keep her hanging."

Cain's mouth pressed into a thin, worried line. He nodded absently, then stood to take Tanner's report. He issued the orders, and received word from the valley that Cain would be needed back in the base camp for a larger operation they had been working over with Jeb. Cain laughed and shook his head--that was his son, all right. Giving orders from the med tent.

He was down the mountain in a matter of hours, DG's letters protected and dry in his pack, and the single blue flower poking out of his buttonhole. Of course, the rain wouldn't let up for his trip down. That would be too easy. He settled himself on the empty cot beside Jeb's, worriedly watching his injured son sleep for only a moment. He then whipped out his unfinished letter and stared it down. He brushed his thumb thoughtfully against the soft petals of the flower in his buttonhole, and when he pulled out the second flower, the words seemed to come to him without contestation. He wrote about flowers, of luck, the rain, and her smile.

As he was sealing the envelope, Jeb's eyes ticked open. "Father?" Cain could see his boy's hand hovering over a knife at his side, ready to attack in case his assumption had been wrong.

"Stand down, soldier," Cain chuckled. "Just your old man."

Jeb relaxed, wincing at the pain that shot through his back and shoulder. He rested his eye on the envelope in Cain's hand, and he managed a smirk through the pain. "DG?" Cain nodded. He didn't think he could afford himself speech. Jeb nodded down to the flower stuck in Cain's shirt. "What's that all about?"

Cain absently touched the bloom, then retracted his hand with a self-conscious jerk. "Ah, something about good luck."

The look Jeb lowered at him told Cain that his boy knew exactly what that flower was. "I wrote about the ambush," Cain said, interrupting the stare uneasily.

"Why are you keeping correspondence with the princess?" Jeb asked, point-blank. "Is this more than who's-shooting-who?"

Cain stood after a moment, not meeting Jeb's eyes. He didn't want to give answers, mostly for the simple reason that he didn't have any. But leaving his son in the dark didn't feel right to him either. He reached into his vest and pulled out DG's latest letter.

"Reading material," he said with a half-smirk. "Post come in lately?"

"A day ago," Jeb replied, opening the letter. "You might have to wait to catch another porter. My man Donahue can hold the letter for you if you go out on patrol and miss post again."

"Sounds like a plan." He gripped his newly-written letter gently, to avoid damage to the flower inside. Just thinking about the gesture made something in his throat knot up, and he swallowed it down as he moved out of the tent to search out Donahue.

When he returned--serious, threatening instructions on how to handle the letter given to young Private Donahue--he found Jeb waiting for him, DG's letter read and hanging in his good hand. The look wasn't quite accusing, but it wasn't benign either.

"She's a piece of work," Jeb commented innocently. Cain took the letter back, and Jeb noted the careful way he folded it back and tucked it into his vest, resting just above his heart. "I can't say I'm an expert on women--"

"Please," Cain interrupted, and felt low for doing so. "I don't..." He shook his head, and with his fingers pressing into his temple, he offered a sigh. "I need sleep. I'll see you in the morning, Jeb."

Contrary to his claim, Cain didn't sleep well. His dreams were of his blue-eyed princess, always just out of his reach. It wasn't raining there, as she'd said, and the sunlight caught brilliantly in her hair. She spun to face him, hair twirling and her eyes full of laughter that he couldn't hear. She wore a pretty blue flower behind her ear, one that matched his exactly. She was smiling, so soft and lovely--just for him. He reached out, just grazing fingers along her cheek, and a wonderful light came into those eyes. She leaned up into him, only a breath between them, when he was shocked awake for no viable reason. Three times that night, he jumped awake, sitting up fully and trying to catch his breath.

His letter went out a day later.

He waited nearly a week for word from her, in between long patrols in the mountains and quick, deadly skirmishes with the resistance forces. They were being thinned out, and that made them dangerous. Cain watched several good men die. Jeb recovered and was out of the med tent before the medics thought he should be out and about. Cain was nearly shot three times, and each time, sitting in his tent and replaying the days behind closed eyelids, he brushed his fingers over the tiny flower in his buttonhole. She must have gotten it--otherwise, how'd he survived so far?

The rain had slackened as he trekked up to the second base he'd helped to dig into the mountain, and the sky was nearly clear by the time he breathed in the thin air. He dug his boots into the muddy, rocky soil and stared out across the valley below and the peaks above. When his gaze wandered south, he could see for miles upon misty miles. The far-off lake country didn't seem so far when he stared out across the vast distance from such daunting heights. He imagined that one of them was Finaqua, with the suns glittering on the magical waters. One of them held his DG, the girl who hid in his dreams and flashed her blue eyes at him across an impossible distance.

He took the flower out of his buttonhole only once, observing it with a kind of reverence. He didn't even check to be sure that no one was watching it when he pressed it to his lips once and returned it to stick out of his shirt. Only two saw the gesture, and one was his son. Something softened in Jeb's prying stare that day, and it was the only day he hadn't mentioned the absence of a response from DG.

Cain wrote another letter atop the cliff that day, while the clear spell held. He sat himself near the cliff's edge, where he had found the clump of Star's Tear, and wrote freely for two full paragraphs. He got to the third, still writing without thought:

_I've been dreaming about you. You're there smiling, with the flower behind your ear and looking for all the world like an angel. I'd come riding back today if you'd smile at me like that._

He paused suddenly, aware of what he'd just written. Despite the cold, high breeze blowing all around him, he distinctly felt heat in his cheeks. Before he could change his mind, Cain scribbled out the candid words with heavy, black strokes until it was completely unreadable. Shaking his head, attempting to remove the flush of heat from his face, he wrote on.

When he signed his name at the bottom, he stopped himself before he could scrawl his last name. It felt right, for some reason. She was DG, and he was Wyatt. He tucked the pencil behind his ear, reread his words, and folded the paper up into its envelope. He took a single deep breath and turned to find his son watching him.

The stare was quizzical, probing, and all of the accusatory fervor gone. Cain realized how much he was baring on his face, and he fumbled as he tried to pull up his mask. Jeb caught it, and his own gaze fell in turn.

The letter went out. There came no response.

Cain knew he didn't need to worry (much) over her safety. If anything had happened at the castle, the royal troops would have been alerted immediately. He was forced to regale her lack of response to two possibilities: her porters were either intercepted, killed or letters lost in the journey to the mountains, which wasn't unfeasible; or she had grown tired of hearing from him, something that wrenched a spike through his heart at the mere thought of it. Jeb walked late guard patrols through the base camp to see his father's lantern on and a worried shadow pacing. He knew it would only be worse to interrupt.

Jeb sat in the med tent for a routine check-up on his bullet wound, and his father had been urged into coming with him. The tent had filled recently after a nearly-botched rescue of a troupe caught between resistance strongholds, and they weren't exactly alone. Cain had pressed himself into a chair almost behind Jeb's line of sight, just under a hanging lantern. Jeb grunted at the pain of the poking and prodding medics, but his eyes were more occupied on the figure his father cut.

Sitting amidst the wounded, in the dim pool of light shed by a single lantern, Cain was leaning back in the small chair. Two sheets of paper were in his hands, and from the light shining on them, Jeb could recognize DG's curling handwriting. Cain's feet were propped up on a chair across from him, crossed at the ankles in a leisurely way that struck him as new and odd for his father. He was relaxed. In the middle of a war zone, he was reclining. It was, however, the look on Wyatt Cain's face that surprised his son the most.

It was a soft, reserved smile that hovered on his lips, teetering on the edge of blooming into a full-blown grin. His eyes scanned the words backward and forwards, learning them again for the hundredth time. The blue flower in his buttonhole was dried, but it somehow managed to keep from getting torn apart, no matter how many times Cain rolled in the mud to avoid overhead bullets. Its color had faded only slightly, and its petals only curled at the tips. It looked beautiful. Cain's smile twitched again, and something lonely and sad came to sit in his eyes, despite the smile he kept alight. He finished reading, and in the low light of the lantern, Cain looked out the flap into the darkness of night and sighed the quietest, most soul-crushing sigh the boy had ever heard.

"You love her, don't you?" Jeb asked at last. It wasn't accusatory. It wasn't even strong. He felt his father's hopelessness, and it sank into his voice as well.

Cain didn't jump, nor did he go full-red in the face, as might have been expected. He turned his head to take Jeb into his sight, and his mouth opened without noise. He sat like that for several moments before he closed his mouth to swallow at something, then opened it again.

"I think I do." His voice didn't quite catch, but Jeb more than noticed the lack of strength in him.

The medic pretended to pay them no attention. He did a terrible job.

Jeb squirmed slightly under his instruments in order to face Cain more squarely. Indecision passed only briefly over his features before they settled in the strength his father seemed to be missing.

"You need to tell her." Cain's eyes flashed up to his again, and he saw steely resolve there. "Sure, there's no knowing if she's getting your letters, but what if she _is_? What's the chance she's sitting there, reading your letters with the same look on her face?"

Cain immediately dropped on his stone facade, which brought laughter from his son. The medic decided that he was needed elsewhere and slipped away.

"I don't know, Jeb," Cain said at once, sitting up straighter. He still held DG's letters in one hand.

The younger dug for the right words, knotting his brow in concentration. "She should still know. If you really do love her, I think you owe her that much."

Cain dragged his eyes away, unable to look his son in the face while the thoughts ran so rapidly behind his eyes. Something sad dug at him, but he refused to listen. Jeb was right, and everything in him knew it. Slowly, as if he was still thinking it through, Cain levered himself up out of his chair and carefully folded DG's letters to stow them against his heart. He crossed the short distance to his son, where he didn't even bother with a meaningful stare. He grabbed the boy up in a tight embrace, careful of the gunshot wound.

When he pulled away, he was smiling--really and fully. "Thanks, Jeb." This time, something did catch in his voice. He cleared it embarrassedly and stalked out of the med tent. Jeb's own smile appeared out of nowhere, a warm feeling surging outward from his heart and taking over his chest.

Cain wrote his letter in one sitting. He didn't dare read over it when he had finished, folding it quickly up into its envelope and sealing it immediately. One line on the return address. The porter came a day later and was surprised when Wyatt Cain, commander of at least half the royal troops in the western mountains, walked up to him with glassy eyes, letter in hand. He didn't say anything as he handed the letter over, and his lips were pressed into a thin, uneasy line. He nodded once and turned away.

The reply came quickly. Only four days elapsed after he had sent out his last letter. He was surprised to see the same porter walking toward his tent as he had sent out. He was smiling, and quite clearly out of breath. Jeb was with him, as well as several men surrounding them. Some looked on in confusion, as if they were unsure as to why they'd gathered. The porter fished in his bag and produced a single envelope with a flourish.

"Express delivery, direct from the princess. She threatened to burn my eyes out with some rather nasty magic if I didn't get this right to you, sir."

Cain ignored the tremor in his fingers as he took the envelope and turned it over to break the seal on the back. He decided quick would be the best, and he unfolded the letter in a flash.

_Wyatt,_

_YES._

_DG_

Within an instant, Cain's worried, unsure features switched to a smile of painful proportions. He was sure that all the blood in his body was in his face, and he didn't care. His eyes shot up to his son, who looked on in growing hope. When he'd finally regained his breath, Cain opened his mouth and laughed. He laughed bright and loud and ecstatic, rereading the three words that meant so much more. A bark of laughter, so unlike him and yet so perfectly Cain, so full of everything--most of all, something that had been so lacking in the camp since their arrival: joy.

Before Jeb could say or do anything, his father had swept him up in a lung-crushing embrace. Jeb cried out, which soon turned into laughter to match his father's. The men muttered amongst themselves in confusion, shifting in a mass as they watched their commanding officers grin and laugh like a pair of idiots. At last, Cain released his son and whipped off his hat with a wide flourish.

"She loves me!" He proclaimed, shouting it for the world to hear. He threw his hat up into the air and gave a loud whoop of celebration. Jeb had to hold his side at the pain the laughter was causing him, but he couldn't stop himself. Cain then grabbed up the porter in a quick hug, clapping the man on the back. He then swept up Donahue, scared and confused, and Tanner, who'd known so much about flowers. The latter, when released from the embrace, flashed Cain a knowing smile.

As Cain stooped to pick up his hat, his smile still painfully wide on his face, a bullet zipped overhead where he had stood only seconds before. Jeb recovered quickest.

"Hit the ground!" He shouted, and his order was followed immediately. Jeb grabbed the porter and dragged him to the ground with him. Cain threw his hat on his head, heart still pounding, and grabbed for his revolver as gunfire erupted overhead. "Take cover!" Jeb commanded, and all the soldiers scrambled to hide behind the bombed-out shells of buildings that remained.

Cain's breath heaved in his chest, and as he cocked back the hammer on his revolver, the fingers of his free hand brushed at the flower in his buttonhole. He closed his eyes to fix the sight of DG into his mind, took a steeling breath, and whipped around to shoot back at the resistors.

Only moments later, the south wall of the building used to store the POWs exploded in a shower of mortar, stone and fire. Cain threw a hand over his head as wood and bits of rock came raining down around him. He poked his head out to scope out the situation, and he felt something not unlike molten rock being poured in through his veins. Every prisoner they'd taken over the course of a month was dashing out of the gaping hole in the side of the makeshift prison. Several armed resistors stood near the hole, firing out and anyone who decided to be brave.

Jeb saw the look in his father's eye before he'd even brought it out of himself. Jeb shook his head vigorously, suddenly pale as he covered the porter. Cain answered with a look of his own dark, hard determination. He pulled the Star's Tear from his buttonhole, brought it to his lips quickly, and replaced it carefully. With that, Wyatt Cain cocked his gun and leapt from his cover.

The battle ended in their favor, despite losses to the left flank and the death of the porter. He was buried with honor beside the royal soldiers. The escaped prisoners had fled into the mountains to reinforce the dwindling resistors. Cain had dodged bullets as if he'd been made out of water, and took down an entire group of resistors with two bullets and a series of deadly punches.

Cain didn't wait to gather his strength. He checked to be sure that he had all three of DG's letters tucked lovingly against his heart, asked for volunteers, and led a contingent of seventeen men up into the mountains after the prisoners. Jeb worriedly asked the others to stay and defend base camp with him. He didn't see his father again for two weeks.

The battles dragged on, and men died on both sides of the line. When Cain returned, he only had eight of the original seventeen, two of which sported heavy injuries. Cain somehow appeared unharmed. The only indication he was even human was the angry bruise around his right eye, and the life that shone out of those blue eyes, a life that refused to be snuffed out.

The time to rest was minimal at best. The resistors, though narrowed down to nearly nothing, peppered the base camp for everything they were worth. The rain poured down, and the fall carried on. Cain knew winter was coming; the morning frost was lasting longer into the afternoon, and the rain had turned bitter and cold. There was little sleep, and no porters dared to brave the mountain passes any longer.

The final battle ended as the month turned over, and the first snowflakes graced the mountain. An explosion near their hiding place showered Jeb and his father with rock and soil. One particularly sharp piece of stone struck Cain at the hairline, which produced real, red blood. It dripped from his chin, and he ignored it. The gunfire petered out as the resistors fell, and eventually, the guns dropped to the ground. Those who walked out of the smoke of battle with their hands on their heads and weapons left behind were taken into custody. The few who were questioned revealed that they were all that was left of the western resistance. Jeb sent out two parties of scouts only to confirm what was said. The fight for the mountains was over.

Cain sagged heavily against a battle-broken wall, not bothering to wipe the blood dripping from his chin. Jeb approached, leaning beside him and looking nearer to dead than alive through exhaustion. The younger turned to his elder and could read his mind before he'd even made it up.

"Take your men back," Jeb said plainly. "I'll stick around up here, to make sure we've got our feet dug in. Help get these villages back up and running. How many do you have left?"

"Thirty," Cain replied, catching his breath back. "Maybe less."

"I've got forty-seven," Jeb added. "That's a fair bit more. You take your men back, get them home. Send up a fresh battalion to relieve us in a week."

Cain chuckled. "Yes, sir."

Even Jeb found humor in this. He allowed it for a short moment, and when it dragged out into silence, he clapped his father on the shoulder.

"Go see your princess."

Then, Cain smiled for the first time in a month. He nodded, pulled Jeb into a tight embrace that communicated more than his words ever could.

Lake country never looked so beautiful. The winter suns were gleaming off the magical waters, high at noon, or just after. His men had refused to leave him, the contingent he had taken into the mountains fiercely bound to him. They would accompany him to the palace and give their report to the Queen themselves. Cain, however, told them that he had business to attend to before he was ready to give his report. Tanner knew immediately, and gladly took command of the remaining soldiers as Cain peeled off from the others.

Cain dismounted his horse, looking ragged and dirty. He knew the guard posted at the gate to the garden, and he gauged by his reaction that Cain hadn't been expected. He asked that his horse be taken to the stable, but the most important question almost went without asking. Where was Princess DG? The guard could read it in Cain's eyes, in the way he held himself, by the flower in his buttonhole. She was in the orchards with her sister. Cain swallowed and nodded his thanks, and took off at a run for the orchard.

He found her in the berry bushes, staring down at a single raspberry. She broke his heart without even trying. She'd gotten thinner, and she was pale to match, as if she hadn't stepped outside in a month. The blue of her eyes had grown dark, and her shoulders sagged in sadness. Something so sad had curled its fingers around her and drew her into the darkness of mourning. Cain tried to say something, to catch her attention, to pull her from that dark place, but found that he was completely unable to form any sort of syllable.

When she looked up, she wasn't even sure that it was him. Her eyes went wide and ran over every bit of him to be sure that he wasn't a trick of the sun or a ghost. He hated himself for not saying anything, for not being able to say anything. Her knuckles were white on the basket she was holding.

He forced the lump from his throat, found it dry and unyielding, and full of emotion he'd been so afraid to show. He was baring it all now. The look in her eye told him that he didn't need to hide it anymore.

"Hey there, Princess."

* * *

AN: Okay, this is the longest thing I've ever written. Not kidding. The longest chapter I've ever written for anything, original work included. I hope you're happy! I am! Dude, I'm kinda really pleased with how this chapter worked out. First off, shout-out to **Latte Lady** for suggesting this chapter in the first place. Without her, this wouldn't exist. Well, several people asked about what happened to Cain and Jeb, and how he would have reacted to DG's letters. SO, this is what I came up with. It only helps that I'm watching "Band of Brothers" this weekend, which has my man Neal in it. THAT, and I bought the soundtrack to said miniseries, which helped me to get the feel for this chapter down. Oh man. It feels kinda epic to me. Is it too long? Does it suck? Plz tell me, I'm biased and I love everything I do XD Lemme know what you think, whether it's love or dislike (though I gotta be honest and say I love the love!) and and... and... I love you guys so much!! For making this my most-reviewed story, and (probably?) the most-reviewed Tin Man fanfic in general. You guys are AWESOME!! RAWK! -love- 


	21. DG and Cain wear silly hats

_In which DG and Cain wear silly hats_

DG was somehow tricked into wearing a dress. The Royal Tailor Brigade, as she was fond of calling them, had cornered her at last--much to the amusement of her bodyguard. He stood on the other side of the curtain, his back to her and a perpetual grin unseen on his face. She found it quite the opposite of funny.

"It's just my birthday," she protested to the man who couldn't see her. She knew it was futile to attempt any conversation outside of measurements with the seamstresses. They swarmed too much like insects to her liking.

"It might've been simple on the Other Side," Cain said, turning his head only slightly to the side; she saw his profile silhouetted from the other side of the curtain, "but in case you forgot, you're a princess over here. Everything's a big deal."

"So you keep reminding me," DG grumbled. She gasped at the tailor's cold metal measuring instruments. "Hey! Watch where you're jabbing that thing! That's a sensitive area!" She heard his too-quiet laugh, saw the outline of his shoulders shake, but she couldn't see that his cheeks took twinge of red.

"Oh, you laugh _now_, Mister Cain," DG rebutted, straightening her back to the chagrin of the woman measuring lengths of fabric on the stringy princess. "You're next, you know."

"They'd have to catch me first," Cain replied. Two of the younger seamstresses laughed, which caused DG to fling an unwonted glare harsh in their direction. They noticed quickly and shut their mouths--she _was_ the princess, after all.

"It's _my_ birthday," DG complained as she was prodded. "Why can't I wear what I want?"

"Some girls want to look nice on special occasions," Cain suggested with a shrug. "Not that--" He paused, cleared his throat and adjusted his hat superfluously. "Not that you don't look nice."

She smiled, something small, as she watched his shadow shift nervously on the other side of the curtain.

"Thanks," she said.

"You know," he began after a polite pause, "just because you're a princess doesn't mean you can't still enjoy your birthday." He was turning his hat in his hands, and his head was lowered to gaze at his feet.

"There'll be dancing," DG groaned.

"You didn't dance in Kansas?" Cain threw back. She could just imagine him smirking behind a masking glower. "Look, DG, the last place you should be miserable is your birthday party."

She smiled even wider at the way he fidgeted, placing his weight on one leg and then the other. He was probably of the notion that she couldn't see his outline through the curtain. She wondered absently if he could have seen her vague shape if he'd wanted to.

"What's your favorite color, Cain?" The question came from nowhere.

He paused again, and his silhouette ran a hand through its hair. "I don't know. Guess I never really thought about it." He thought about it then, only briefly. "Maybe blue."

DG beckoned one of the seamstresses close and whispered instructions into her ear. Something blue, and make it shine. Oh, and if at all possible, when fitting Mr. Cain, take in the seat of his trousers a bit. It was _her _birthday, dammit, and she was going to have it her way whether her mother approved or not.

There were too many people in the ballroom. She supposed that the partygoers had come less out of a desire to see her on her birthday than the compelling need to be someplace warm. With the snow falling in downy quilts outside the tall windows, DG really couldn't blame them. January 17th, at 9:42, DG was born. They'd always celebrated it to the minute, and she supposed that it would be no different in the O.Z.

At first, she thought it was rather unnecessary for her to be announced at all. If anything, she'd rather hide in the crowd and introduce herself slowly, personally. It was another fact of being a princess, and something she would have to get used to.

She arrived atop the staircase alone, looking down on the already mingling guests and heaved a sigh. She brightened at once upon seeing a nervous and fidgeting Tin Man standing at the bottom of the same staircase, almost as if he was waiting for her.

"Announcing Guest of Honor, Her Highness Princess Dorothy Gale," the nearby page raised his voice to be heard over the mingling din.

The sound of clapping went dull in her ears as Cain's eyes snapped up to catch hers. She smiled brilliantly as she made her slow and careful way down the stairs, reveling in the way she'd made his jaw drop without saying a word. Dark blue like midnight cut a line across her white chest, just under her collarbone and hung off of the curve of her shoulder. She had no idea what made the silky material shine and shimmer like it was full of stars, or how it hugged every curve without cutting off her breath and circulation. It fanned out perfectly from her hips, and she had tested it as soon as she had slipped it on--she'd spun in circles until she'd nearly fallen, just to see how it would billow out around her.

She would have to be nicer to the Royal Tailor Brigade from now on, if their work got Wyatt Cain to stare at her like that more often.

Eyes wide in recognition, his hands suddenly down to his side, and his mouth dropped open a notch. Once, his eyes swept up and down the length of her dress, and she could see his face turn a definite shade of pink, if not red. His throat bobbed, taking a nervous swallow, and when his eyes met hers again, one side of his mouth twitched up into a tentative smile.

"Fancy meeting you here, Mister Cain," DG said as she reached the foot of the stairs. She was surprised to find that he was already holding out his hand to intercept her, and she took it firmly.

The other side of his smile twisted up to balance out his face, and after a moment, he realized that he was supposed to be saying something in return.

"Hey," he replied. It was stupid, and he knew it, but the words didn't seem to be coming. He shook the look out of his eyes and continued after a too-long pause. "Look at you." He tried to pass it off as casual and did a very passable job.

"Look at _you_," she countered. She'd made sure that they matched, and she'd had to sell her soul to the Royal Tailor Brigade in order to do so. She supposed that standing next to Wyatt Cain in his matching dress uniform was more than enough in way of payment. He did cut quite a figure, especially with the tint of red she'd put into his pale face.

She realized that he still had her hand when he brought it to his lips and kissed it once. A sheepish smile spread over his lips, something rare that she locked away in the back of her mind for safekeeping.

"Er," he faltered for a moment, dropping her hand and glancing around to see if anyone had caught him in the act. "Happy birthday, DG," he said when he'd caught her eyes again.

"So," she said, slipping her arm into the crook of his elbow as he offered it to her, "what's the drinking age here in the O.Z.? Because if I was back in Kansas, I'd be hitting the bars like they were going out of style right now."

Cain acted as if he hadn't ever thought about it, and as they walked into the crowd, he fixed his eyes on the floor in concentration.

"Oh, come on," DG chided. "You've got to have restrictions on_ some_ things. There's a couple places in Central City that could make a ten-year-old go blind."

"Sixteen," Cain replied, cutting in before she could go into detail. "Guess I just haven't had to think about it in a while." Something else hung on his face, and DG was almost sure it was guilt. Cain knew it was. She was only just 21, and it was like a slap in the face. He let it sting there for a moment before summoning up a smirk for her. "Why, you thirsty, Princess?"

"Like a fish," she responded, gripping his arm slightly. She avoided the heavy gazes of those around her except to nod at their birthday well-wishes.

She wasn't surprised to find that, nestled between tables of food for the party guests, there was an equally long bar at the very back of the ballroom, where several people had already gathered. DG knew better than to attempt to order anything at a foreign bar, so Cain ordered up two of something and handed one of them to her. In something that looked a bit like a martini glass, she saw a drink that was nearly clear, just slightly green. It smelled vaguely of mint.

She grinned up at Cain, who met her with his own subdued smile. "Cheers," she said, clinking the edge of her glass against his. She watched him down half of it in one go, and she bravely attempted the same.

He laughed, rubbing a hand on her exposed back as she coughed at the fire in her throat.

"Holy shit," she wheezed.

"Yeah," Cain rebounded, and she was pleased that he didn't immediately remove his hand out of propriety. "Take it easy, Princess. We've got all night."

She really, really liked the sound of that.

Drink in hand, she'd been pried away from her Tin Man by Ambrose, of all people. He swept in, commenting on her dress with a lopsided smile that spoke of Glitch. She fixed her hand into the crook of his arm and toasted Cain one more time before she was tugged away. Cain was still smiling at her when she shot a glance over her shoulder.

She was introduced to three supposedly very important people from the Far North, all in dress coats and tall hats made of fur. DG commented on them, and luckily she said that she admired them; Ambrose told her later that the hats were status symbols, and the men of the Far North took great pride in them. After the three furred men, DG met several other dignitaries that only passingly cared that it was her birthday. She smiled politely for all of them, curtseying daintily like a good princess should.

Her mother and father looked proud as they watched from atop the grand staircase across the room. Some little part in DG was glad to see them proud of her, proud of the princess she'd become apart from the Other Sider she'd grown up to be.

She wondered what she would be doing if she wasn't in the O.Z. Hitting the bars, like she'd told her bodyguard, most likely. Singing bad karaoke with her closest friends. There would probably be silly hats and lots of giggling at things that weren't funny. Here, it was form and function, putting on that princess mask that her parents were proud of and holding onto Ambrose's arm as she met people that didn't care that she was DG.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly, taking her arm back from the royal advisor as he introduced her to some woman in a gaudy green dress. "I need some air," was all she said as she moved away. She could hear Ambrose making a quick and wonderful apology for her to the gaudy woman. There were some bits of Glitch left in him, some part of him that was still her best friend and who would get her out all the scrapes she got herself into. She realized that she did very much need some air.

The balcony was separated from the ballroom by two large glass doors that looked more like windows at first glance. She opened them to step outside and quickly shut them again after her to keep the warmth inside.

The snow came down in large flakes that caught every refraction of moonlight. They glittered and danced in the light, chill breeze before landing in the dark hair of the princess. She crossed her arms tight over her chest to conserve her warmth and let her eyes wander up to the flawless black sky. It stared back like a velvet sheet pulled tight over the world with the flakes falling from it and swirling silently around her. The snow crunched under her shoes only just, and the sound was sucked out of the world. She sighed in the biting air and closed her eyes.

The door opened and shut behind her, but she didn't turn. She was pretty sure she knew who it was.

"You're gonna freeze," Cain said as he approached from behind. She felt his jacket slip over her shoulders, where his hands remained as he stood directly behind her. In the cold of the winter night, she could feel the heat radiating off of him. He was close, and she was sure that she liked it.

"Thanks," she said absently, her eyes still closed.

"You all right?" He already knew the answer, and she knew that he knew. He hadn't removed his hands, and they brought even further warmth all through her.

"They don't care that it's my birthday," she said, shaking her head and casting snowflakes from her hair. "Most of them probably came for the food."

Cain paused, and DG liked to fancy that she could hear the wheels turning in his head. His hands fell from her shoulders as she turned to face him. He had snow in his hair, in his eyelashes. His face spoke of deep thought.

"Well," he said at last, picking his words before he said them, "_you_ care that it's your birthday, don't you?"

She smiled. "Yeah. It's kind of a big thing."

"Then screw them. It's your party, you should do whatever you want. They can all go to hell." His face was so serious when he said it, she couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of her. He went bright red in the ears, and she could almost hear him blaming it on the cold. "What?"

She shook her head again, scattering more snowflakes. "No, you're right." Something childish lit up her eyes from behind. "Let's have some real fun."

DG took his hand, and he really didn't seem to mind. They reentered the ballroom together, and the sound washed over them.

Cain ordered them another round of drinks, and by the look in the bartender's eye, Mister Cain had had a few while DG had been away at introductions. DG hissed a laugh as she saw Ambrose sweeping the ballroom for her, and swooping up her drink and grabbing ahold of Cain, she ducked back behind a rather large potted plant beside the bar. It took all her effort not to laugh and reveal their position as Ambrose passed by. Even Cain was grinning.

The barman seemed perplexed when DG threw up her hand a minute later to order more drinks from behind the same potted plant. He dutifully served his princess nonetheless and handed the drinks to her and her bodyguard.

"Very important espionage job," she murmured when the barman asked why they were sitting on the floor. Cain snickered into his drink.

"So," Cain said after the barman walked away, tilting his head at her, "this is your idea of wild, reckless abandon?"

"No," DG replied, gulping down her drink. "I'm just trying to get drunk first."

She decided that she really did love the way he laughed. If heavy drinking was the only way to bring it about, she was going to have to force it upon him more often.

Ambrose was more than a little perplexed when he saw a wobbling Tin Man trying to dance for an equally unsteady princess, both red-faced and laughing to an unnatural degree. Something of Glitch twitched up into his smile, and he merely sat and watched the two of them make a drunken waltz across the floor. Other couples moved quickly out of their way, leaving a wake of disproving and scandalized looks behind them.

"Wait, wait, wait," DG said rather too loudly, laughing as the room continued to spin. "I don't think you're s'posed to step on my toes like that."

Cain seemed to concentrate very hard for a moment, which caused DG a snort of laughter. They nearly bumped into another couple, who gasped as DG and Cain twirled by.

Ahamo and Queen Lavender weren't watching with pride any longer. When her father started down the grand staircase to intercept them, DG squeaked and grabbed Cain's hand to tear him away into the crowd. They were gone by the time Ahamo was on the dance floor, looking perplexed and just a little bit lost.

DG and Cain were breathing hard and laughing as they came to a stop in the coat closet. She leaned one hand on her chest as she caught her breath between tight giggles. At the added weight, Cain nearly fell through a rack of coats, which only brought more laughter. As his frame thumped against the coat rack, a handful of hats fell from the top shelf and landed on and around them.

DG ducked down and reappeared in his vision with a terrible, wide-brimmed pink hat on her head. A too-large peach flower was stuck into the band around the crown and seemed almost larger than the hat itself.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Cain laughed, his eyes locked on the hideous hat. She squared it on her head and dipped into a quick pose with one hand on her hip and the other flat atop the crown of her floppy pink hat. She was grinning far too wide.

"Hats are a status symbol in the Far North, Wyatt Cain," she said, her princess authority dulled and only slightly slurred by the amount of alcohol she'd consumed. "Don't you dare make fun of my hat."

He laughed nonetheless, smiling brightly under the flush of alcohol in his cheeks. She was sure that she liked the way he was looking at her, something that had always been there but was brought into the light when the veil over his eyes had been yanked away. His smile softened only slightly as his hand rose and he gently tweaked the brim of her hat.

"I like it," he said, and she heard that his voice had dipped lower.

Before he could say anything further, she'd swept up another hat and stood on her toes to plop it down on his head. This one was truly ridiculous. She supposed that it had once been something resembling a top hat, but either the O.Z. had odd taste in fashion or the person who had brought in this monstrosity was mentally unstable. The brim had been widened and tipped up like a cowboy in an cheap Western. It was almost too small for his head, and it made his ears stick out. Not to mention the flower sticking out of the band that matched hers.

"No way," he groaned, looking at the mirror across the closet with a grin that just wouldn't disappear.

"Yes way," she retorted, and she grabbed both of his hands and pulled him back out of the coat room and into the hallway.

They managed to sneak past Ahamo, and they had no idea how.

Azkadellia was the first of the royal family to find the errant princess, and nearly ground her hand into her face at the embarrassment. She was hard to miss. The bright, pink, floppy hat was not a good choice for remaining hidden. Both she and her bodyguard had, for some reason, found ridiculous headgear and twirled their way back into the ballroom. Just as the elder princess was about to raise her voice to alert her mother to DG's presence, the clock began to chime near her.

"You look ridiculous," DG said, grinning madly as Cain clutched her to his chest. Their waltz hadn't improved, but he found that if he kept her against his chest, it was slightly easier.

"Ditto," he replied. "All your damn fault."

"You're having fun, though, right?" Her smile was lovely, her lips curving up like a cat's smile.

"Hell yeah," he answered with a low laugh. "I'm with you."

Somewhere, a clock was chiming.

They'd stopped dancing, almost suddenly. His arms were surprisingly steady as he swept DG down into an elegant dip. Her world went upside-down.

The ball goers who weren't distracted by the display put on by the princess and her bodyguard turned to the Queen, who had raised her arms. "On this day, this hour and very minute as the clock chimes, my youngest daughter DG was given to me. Every year after, her birth has been celebrated to the very minute. My dearest DG, a happy birthday, and I wish to you so many more."

They were clapping for her, she realized peripherally.

She almost couldn't take Cain seriously as he hovered over her, the hat she'd placed on his head still sitting there, mocking her. His lips twitched up in a half-smile, leaving her half-up from their dip.

"Happy birthday," he echoed in a lower voice.

Then, he dipped down into her and kissed her. He flat-out kissed her. With everyone watching her after her mother's announcement, Wyatt Cain just leaned down and kissed her. DG supposed she didn't help matters when she threaded her arms up around his neck and pulled his lips even harder against hers. She was sure she heard scandalized gasps all around her, but that was very far from an issue that mattered. It was only his lips, the way they moved so smooth and hot against hers, and the burn of his hands on her exposed back.

He swooped her back up, standing in full but no further from him. Oh, and he was still kissing her. If she never got anything else for her birthday, kissing Wyatt Cain was enough. Pulled so close to him, feeling every bit of him lined up against her, she was sure that she wouldn't mind kissing him forever. Breathing? What was that?

Oh, right. Breathing.

She broke away, somehow managing to remember how to breathe. She was half aware of his fingers tracing the line of her jaw back and forth, something soothing, calming. She met his eyes in their closeness, blue on blue until they'd nearly melted into each other.

"Best. Birthday present. Ever." Her breath was short as she said it. She loved that laugh she brought from him, close and warm against her face.

They became very slowly aware of the murmuring of the people around them, and both turned at the sudden and sharp voice of Azkadellia.

"DG," she hissed, all too close and seething, "are you _drunk_?!"

"Yes," DG proclaimed proudly, her smile going wide.

Cain laughed, something that caught Az off guard. "Yeah," he said at nearly the same time, creating a slight echo. "Oh," he said vaguely, "you meant..." He laughed again, and DG realized that he still had his arms wrapped around her. She liked it very much, and leaned her head against Cain's shoulder in response.

Both of them were pulled into the room behind the grand staircase and berated by Ahamo and his eldest daughter. Queen Lavender stood somewhere behind them with an unreadable expression on her face. DG simply explained that if they were going to have a bar at her birthday party, she was going to use it. She added that she and Cain were adults and could make their own choices. Of course, it wasn't as plain when it came out of her mouth. She also realized she had quite a hard time focusing with Cain's eyes like fire on her skin from across the room.

Lavender finally spoke, prescribing sleep to both of them. Though, she added with an almost imperceptible wink, not in the same quarters. She would make an excuse for the both of them, and DG realized how much she really loved her mother. A slow, silly grin took the girl's face as she embraced the Queen.

"By the way, my dear," she added in a low voice, "you really should abandon those ridiculous hats."

DG dissolved into helpless laughter.

Cain kissed her again outside her quarters, something slower and tamer. She took it with her to bed, snuggled into a cocoon of blankets to dream of twirling dancers, mint-flavored kisses and a floppy pink hat.

* * *

AN: I'M BACK!! Did you miss me? I apologize for the extreme lateness of this. I blame college. It's been midterms week here, and I haven't had time to myself. Well, I've had some time, but it was spent finishing Band of Brothers and Flags of Our Fathers (both with Neal in them; lol I'm on a Neal spree. We're watching Ravenous on DVD next!). Sooo yeah. This one is inspired by two people--**Alamo Girl** suggested getting Cain drunk, which is always fun; **Thayne M.** and I had a conversation about silly party hats, which also helped. My beta for this chapter is the lovely **KatxValentine**, who has been a good friend since forever! Those are my shout outs, so love them! Hmm... Well, I def. had fun with this, especially running from daddy XD Lemme know if this is a deviation from the norm, and if I need to be shot. I am still freaking in love with all of you, readers and reviewers, and nothing you say will stop that! LOVE AND STAY AWESOME!! 


	22. DG is wooed by a persistent Tin Man

_In which DG is wooed by a persistent Tin Man_

DG decided that she finally knew how that poor Prince Charming in Cinderella felt. Truth be told, she felt she had it better than the poor boy; there were no royal balls to parade her through, and she'd frankly feel more sorry for the unfortunate boy who wandered in with glass footwear. She did, however, begin to feel like a royal piece of meat when her parents began to plan the events of the month spread out in front of her.

"You don't have to like them, Sweetheart," Ahamo assured her. "Propriety, foremost," he added with a lighthearted roll of his eyes. "We're not so much interested in marrying you off as we are in keeping up relations with the surrounding baronies and duchies and... what-have-yous."

DG was glad that her father knew nearly as little about politic as she did. It calmed her a degree when she sat in the too-large queenly study to face the both of them as they arranged her fate.

"I've arranged several meetings with prominent figures for you, my darling," Queen Lavender said calmly, surveying the unfurled roll of paper before her. "They have asked me a week of your time each to court you, though--" she added a smile that DG must have inherited from her, "--this _is_ a matriarchy, and you ultimately have the last word on any of them."

The princess could almost hear the smile turning up on her bodyguard's lips as he leaned against the wall behind her.

"So I can kick any of them out on the curb if they get too touchy?" DG asked plainly.

"Politely," Ahamo said with a smirk of his own.

DG shot a glance over her shoulder at Cain, whose hand had trailed absently to his gun, as if to say 'They won't get the chance to get touchy.'

She eventually agreed, mostly to please her already wearied parents. They were having quite a time adjusting to Az's new personality, one that matched young DG in rambunctious spontaneity, and she was more often found down by the lakeside, avoiding her guard. DG had become anything but tame in her newfound princesshood, finding little ways to use her power to better palace life where she could. She wasn't surprised when her parents asked Cain to become DG's permanent bodyguard, and even less surprised when he immediately agreed. This helped to take a load off of the royals' shoulders, and as much as it pained DG to go through the courting rituals, she was a dutiful daughter. Besides, with Mr. Cain as her shadow, what could go wrong?

The first week passed smoothly. The young man who was to court her first was Lord Hanley of the northern barony of the same name. He wasn't much older than DG, which was a relief. She'd almost been expecting men her father's age, tall and gruff and hairy with a brooding disposition. The young lord was tall, but thin and a little gangly in the legs, with hair the color of dirty straw and roughly the same texture. Hanley had at first been intimidated by the Tin Man standing a full ten feet behind the princess, his hat pulled down menacingly with a hawk-eyed expression. When DG introduced herself with a kind and knowing smile, Hanley relaxed and even dared his own unsure smirk.

Hanley was very interested in hearing about DG's exploits on the Other Side, and how life was different for her in Kansas. Although some of her stories made him pale in the face, others brought out a bright laugh that seemed to boisterous for his small frame. Cain respectfully kept his distance, allowing Hanley his space. The princess allowed the young lord to hold her hand as they strolled the gardens at Finaqua. He, in turn, told her stories of growing up in the O.Z., in the cold Northern winters that DG had come to know at the Northern Island as a child. Hanley brightened that they had something in common, and his eyes lit up like a child at Christmas.

He had his week, in which he took her horseback riding through the southern lake country, and included a fascinating tour of his northern barony. She rather liked the warm, wool-lined coat he'd fixed her with, allowing his arm around her shoulders in the cold and biting wind. She caught snowflakes on her tongue and twirled in the swirling winter breeze. Hanley watched her with a sigh and a smile. She figured that she rather liked Hanley, but as a friend more than a lover. She couldn't see herself kissing him, let alone marrying him. Therefore, when his week came to an end, she told him just that.

He smiled weakly, nodded, and said that he figured as much. He ducked in to kiss her once on the cheek and bowed deeply. He added with a sheepish smile that he would very much like to continue being her friend. The wool-lined coat was sent to her in a decorative box at Finaqua two days later.

The second week didn't go as smoothly. Lord Ennio of Canton wasn't nearly as charming as Hanley had been. Perhaps the fact that his barony was situated at the very farthest eastern corner of the O.Z. had something to do with his rather sour demeanor. He was broader across the chest than Hanley, and his hair was dark midnight black. He, too, looked uneasy under the bodyguard's stare. He didn't speak often, as if he'd been taught in his younger years that it was disrespectful to be caught speaking.

When he did speak, his voice wasn't as lighthearted and free as Hanley's. He was dark, something almost broken in him. Like he was going through the motions without meaning. He said things without thinking them through, which brought DG's smile down into something sad. Cain didn't give them the same respectful distance. He was practically on Ennio's heels.

DG ended his courtship early, and Ennio made the mistake of raising his voice to her. Cain caught him by his collar and violently hauled him away from the princess, growling very real threats into his ear. Once he'd ejected Lord Ennio, Cain returned to the library to find DG curled up in a chair and halfway to crying. He knelt beside her chair, holding her hand comfortingly until she calmed herself back down. She smiled, wiped her eyes, and was done. Her mother decided that the rest of the week would be hers, and the following Sunday would see her with a new suitor for the new week. She wasn't looking forward to another suitor, after the last.

Ahamo walked her to the reception hall, a small smile playing on his face. DG fixed him with an odd look.

"Where's Cain?" she asked, noting his absence for the third time since leaving her room.

"He's taking a personal day," Ahamo replied. "He can't be your shadow every hour of every day, sweetheart." She caught his smirk. "That Lord Ennio wore him out. Unstrung some nerves."

DG grumbled something vague about being left to face the hounds alone, which made Ahamo laugh lightly. She didn't see where he pulled his amusement from. As they pressed open the door to the reception hall, she felt her heart ache at the fact that he had left her to face the next man alone. Ahamo walked behind her, so she couldn't see the knowing smirk that had taken to his lips.

There was only one man in the reception hall, standing with his back to her and holding something in one hand. She would know the shape of those shoulders anywhere, and the color of his hair. Her heart did an odd little jump.

"Mr. Cain," she said, sounding slightly exasperated, "what are you doing here?"

He turned, smiling in an almost awkward sort of way. He was hatless, and his duster and vest had been discarded in favor of a nice shirt and dark slacks. "Taking a personal day, Princess."

It took her a moment to process--the fact that he was the only man present, that he had taken the time to look nice, and especially that he held a long-stemmed blue flower in one hand. When she noticed, his fingers went slightly nervous, and he passed the flower to the other hand.

He regained himself quickly, and he was at her side as the realization dawned on her. "Oh no," she muttered, her eyes gone wide over an undeniable redness in her cheeks. "Mr. Cain, you can't be serious."

"I wasn't gonna step in for another few weeks," Cain said, looking down on her with a smile twisted half-up on his lips in a way that suited him. "But after that idiot last week, the Queen bumped me up."

"You _planned_ this?" DG asked, even more flabbergasted. She whipped around, ready to glare accusatory daggers at her father, but she found him gone. When she turned back to Cain, there was laughter hidden in his eyes that he didn't cover well.

"You got me for a week, Princess," he said, taking her hand and pressing his lips to her knuckles. She was full red, and she knew it. When she pulled her hand back, his pretty blue flower was held in her fingers. "Sorry if that throws off your plans."

She shook her head too quickly, all of it spinning in her head like a cyclone. "I think I need to sit down."

He lowered her into the nearby chair as she held a hand to her forehead. She sat for several silent minutes, not removing the hand from her face, and letting her mind slow itself down. Cain knelt beside her, waiting, patient, and watching.

"So," Cain said after too long, and she peeked through her hands to see him smiling up at her from one knee, "you gonna kick me out on the curb like our friend Ennio?"

"No," she said with an exasperated sigh. "It's just... I had no idea you..."

She bit her lip at the growing smile on Cain's face.

"Just give me my week, DG," he said, and she was glad to hear her name and not another cute epithet. "That's all I'm asking."

Twirling the blue flower in one hand, she watched its petals fan out in the silence. She nodded, almost absently. Before she could bring herself to say something, Cain was back on his feet and held out one hand to her.

"Let's get you out in the fresh air," he said as she pulled herself up with his help.

Az couldn't blame herself for spying. It was the gathering group behind her that worried her. The balcony wasn't that large, and if either Cain or DG decided to look up, they would be greeted with the sight of nearly the entire wait staff looking down on them. She managed to scatter a few of them with help from her mother's personal advisor, but many others stayed. Az and Ambrose shook their heads and leaned on the railing to get a better look at the two wandering the castle grounds below them.

"Shh," Az urged, and the babble behind her fell quiet. She pointed straight down, and soon the others had leaned over to listen in.

"When my father died," they heard Cain say, "it was just me and my mother. I wasn't even ten years old yet."

"What was her name?" DG asked. She had her eyes on the flower Cain had given her. "Your mother, I mean."

"Diane," Cain replied. "She was strong; she had to be, raising me." At the laugh that took him, DG followed, as if she needed permission. "She had me ready for the Academy when I hit sixteen. I tried to pretend it was my choice, but she would've found something else for me if I didn't go into law enforcement." He turned to catch her smile in his eye. "What?"

"I'm trying to imagine you as a lawyer," DG said, closing her eyes for effect.

They echoed each others' laughter again. He took her hand, much like Hanley had done two weeks earlier, although she was sure that an electric shock accompanied the warm feeling of his fingers intertwined with hers.

"Don't look up," he muttered, very close and smiling down at her.

She raised her eyebrows in question, very nearly disobeying him.

"Your sister is spying on us," he clarified.

DG's face screwed up in an indignant little pout, and she took her eyes directly to the balcony above them. "Real cute, Azkadellia!" she shouted upward. There was a flurry of excitement from the balcony as the crowd was suddenly scattered. There remained only Az and Ambrose, looking down sheepishly at being caught in the act.

He opened the door to the dining room, holding it as she passed through, and was somehow at her chair before she was to pull it out for her. He tucked her chair up to the table and took the seat at her left elbow. She looked vaguely surprised, and was left to watch his smirking face through the entire meal. The queen and her husband watched with eyes full of interest, and their gazes met with a similar knowing sort of expression.

DG had a rough time falling asleep, wrapped up in herself and staring out at the window and to the moon. Wyatt Cain was courting her, and through the means her mother and father had set up for her. There was some part of her that still thought that it was some sort of cruel joke, and that they would all have a laugh about it over breakfast. It was the strange feeling she got when she thought of his smile, how he held her hand, that beautiful blue flower sitting in a vase on her bedside table, that brought her to believe--hope?--that it was something more. That he meant it when he kissed her hand.

She woke in the morning trying to grasp at dreams that drifted into nothingness. She arrived for breakfast later than usual, only to find that no one was there to greet her. She nearly turned right back around to ask a passing guard if he had seen her family, when the door on the opposite side of the room opened. Wyatt Cain exited the kitchen, holding a steaming plate in either hand. He looked up and brightened immediately upon seeing her.

"DG," he said as a surprised preface. He gathered his thoughts and nodded down at the table. "Take a seat."

She did, her mouth only slightly ajar. He placed a plate before her, covered in eggs, ham and something that vaguely resembled hash browns. He set his own plate down across the table from her and circled so that he was standing beside her chair. She wasn't sure where he'd pulled it from, but she was suddenly staring down at a bright orange bloom, hovering right under her eyes.

"Morning," Cain said simply, half of his mouth quirking up into a smile.

She was reflecting it, even if she didn't realize, as she took the flower from his hand. She tucked it up behind her ear, causing her eyes to light up an even more brilliant blue.

"Morning, Mr. Cain," she replied as he moved to take his seat across from her.

He stuck his fork into his breakfast, his eyes on her. "Call me Wyatt."

Cain walked beside her on her way to and abridged lesson with Tutor by the lake. His smile turned up as he told her about his days at the Academy, anecdotes of classmates gone but not forgotten, how he had nearly shot his instructor the first time he'd gotten his hands on a pistol. When they arrived at the gazebo, he had her laughing.

Tutor didn't exactly look sorry to cut in on Cain and DG's time together. The Tin Man shrugged in an oddly good-natured way, and he tucked his fingers under DG's chin in way of saying his temporary goodbye to her. She wasn't quite sure why she was blushing as he walked away, or why she couldn't focus on the lesson Tutor had lined up for her. She was stuck on that smile, and every so often, her fingers would drift up to brush across the petals of the flower in her hair.

"I can't say I didn't see it coming," Tutor said at last, a sigh accompanying the shake of his head.

"Hmm?" DG asked, her head snapping up from her reverie. "See what?"

"Mr. Cain. He's had that look in his eye ever since he took the job. It was just a matter of time before he stepped in."

DG took the flower from behind her ear to examine it, glancing up at her teacher periodically. "You think so?"

"The thing with being a dog for so long, DG," Tutor said with a merry laugh, "is that you notice more with your nose than with your eyes. And I know what hormones smell like."

She laughed away the butterflies that sprouted in her heart. "That sounds kinda creepy, Toto."

"Come on," he said, his head shaking again. "Just a few minutes more and you can get back to your Tin Man."

She looked at him differently when they reunited in the main foyer. He saw it, and faltered oddly on one of his steps toward her. She gave him her best smile and said nothing but "Hello, Wyatt."

DG was delighted to see the tips of his ears go red.

He pulled out her chair again at dinner, and somewhere between the main course and the dessert, he'd taken her hand in his.

Her head was still full and buzzing as she settled into her bed, pulling sheets and blankets high up to her shoulders. She set her eyes on the two flowers in her bedside vase--blue and orange--and felt an odd tangle where her heart should have been. A wonderful sort of tangle that turned her lips up into a placid smile.

She woke earlier than the day before--the suns hadn't quite decided whether or not to rise--and threw open her doors to greet the day. Hanging on the doorknob of the room across the hallway was a familiar, rumpled old hat. Still in her pajamas, DG padded across the hall and took the hat down from the doorknob. She took the slip of paper from the band around the crown, setting the hat atop her head.

_Skip breakfast. I'm in the gazebo._

She rather liked his handwriting, she thought as she started off for the main foyer. She didn't even bother to throw on day clothing, sticking instead to her thin-strapped top and her baggy pajama bottoms. She did, however, duck in to grab a long coat from her wardrobe. The chill of the morning made her glad for the choice as she pushed through the main doors and exited into the lightening darkness. A ring of yellow and gray circled the horizon where the suns would soon poke their heads, but the rest of the sky was dressed in black and purple, the stars winking in and out.

Approaching the gazebo, the lights of the palace twinkling far behind her as it slowly began to wake, she saw Wyatt Cain in the gray morning light. He was turned away from her, watching the sky with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked so calm, something she didn't get to see in him often, and most of her was loath to interrupt him in whatever reverie he'd sunk into.

She was attempting stealth and silence when his voice spoke up out of nothing. "I used to hike up through the hills to watch the sunrise over our valley back home." He turned sideways to find her in his eye, a smile caught in his lips as his profile met her in the growing lightness. "I never miss it. Unless I've been shot."

"Good morning to you, too," she said, finding his smile contagious.

The flick of his eyes from her clothing back to her eyes didn't go unnoticed. "Morning, DG."

She didn't realize that she was still wearing his hat until he was directly in front of her, taking it slowly from atop her pile of sleep-tossed hair. The tweak of his grin was just as studied, his eyes on hers. He fixed his hat back onto his head without taking his eyes off of her. Before she managed to swallow her heart back into her chest, he'd pulled a flower from the basket at his feet and tucked it behind her ear. She caught a flash of bright, pure white and more than a dozen fanning petals.

"Hungry?" He asked, his hand lingering near her ear. She wasn't sure how, but she managed to nod.

They sat together on the floor of the gazebo, turned to the east to watch the sunrise turn the sky gold and pink with the promise of a new day. They helped themselves to the breakfast Cain had packed into the basket, taking their time, for they knew they had it to waste. For the first time in a long time, DG could sit in silence without feeling the need to break it with words. When the suns arrived in all their blazing glory, DG slipped her hand into Cain's and leaned her head into his shoulder. He squeezed back, the side of his head resting on the top of hers. She could have fallen asleep for years.

Her contented curl of a smile wasn't lost on him, observing through eyes half-lidded. He matched her smile with one of his own, and DG just knew that she had no control over herself from that point forward. She wasn't the first woman to lean into that smile for a kiss, but she found herself strangely praying that she would be the last. It was self-conscious, barely a brush of her lips against his, lingering in close with her cheeks gone full red and hot at her thoughtless action. For a brief beat in time, they simply watched each other with no words or thoughts between them. When he leaned back in to complete their circuit again, she was sure that her heart was going to bust.

She wasn't quite sure just how long he kissed her, and she just let him. He left her with her mouth gaping, breathing in the air between them, eyes still closed and leaning into him with her head still tilted. Her brain had taken a vacation, and her heart had decided to housesit. She opened her eyes slowly to find his hovering over her, watching, waiting for something.

Then, she smiled. Her face lit up from the new golden light of the rising suns as she sat leaning into and against him. He honestly couldn't help himself as he leaned in again to steal another kiss, which she gave him freely.

He pulled her chair out for her at dinner, the white flower still in her hair above her ear. When he took her hand under the table, she squeezed back, fixing him with blue eyes that said several things her voice wouldn't.

Az was the one to find them after dinner, hidden in an alcove. One of DG's legs was kicked up daintily behind her as Cain held his hands at her waist and kissed her soundly when they thought no one was watching. Az was severely disappointed when she made an inadvertent squeal of joy, which caused them to break apart with a snap of suction lost. DG was red and flustered, but her Tin Man held her close and tight, just laughing. DG buried her face in his chest as she joined him in embarrassed laughter, hands gripping at his lapels.

The next morning, DG held the final flower in her hands as she walked to her mother's study barefooted. It was a red rose in full bloom, and it had nearly made her cry when he'd handed it to her. Cain walked beside her, one of her arms threaded through his just as casual as you could please--the gaze between them anything but. She knocked, and her mother's voice called for them to enter.

"Call off the line of suitors, Mother," DG said, beaming from the other side of the wide wooden desk.

Queen Lavender looked up, and as she did, her eyes fell on her daughter and the man she'd attached her arm to. Both looked as if they had not slept well, and DG was still in her pajamas. The way DG leaned into him and he supported her with an arm about her waist was nearly enough in itself. But it was the way their eyes spoke--like they were sure that they were both still asleep and dreaming, and hoped that they'd never wake up. DG's grip on Cain's arm increased as a smile settled on Lavender's face.

"I think I'm set," the princess said, and it was final.

* * *

AN: Yo, folks! Well, my midterms are over! Huzzah! That means I'll probably have a little more time to devote to CDG (I wub them so!). This one isn't necessarily inspired by anyone or anything (except maybe a little bit by **Purplerhino**'s CDG challenge, about Cain pursuing DG... but only a little bit). HMM... Let's see, I don't know if I have much to say here. It's great to get back into the swing of things :D Oh, and if anyone can catch the two Firefly references (one of them is real subtle) they get free e-cookies. I have a stash. Uhhhhm, tell me what you think! I love feedback from you guys, and just hearing from you warms my heart in the cold frigid winter!! Tell me if anything is really off, like if my short hiatus caused me to lose sight of the characters or whatnot. Thanks much in advance, and I totally love all of you guys forever!! Much, much love and STAY AWESOME FOREVER CUZ I LOVE YOUU!! 


	23. The green eyed monster rears its head

_In which the green-eyed monster rears its head_

It was the understatement of the annual to say that Wyatt Cain hated DG's boyfriend. It might have been better to say that he would have preferred to take a gun to the young man's head than talk to him. To throw him into the lake with a rather large rock tied onto one of his scrawny little legs. Lock him in a dark, tiny room and conveniently lose the key. Several things came to mind, and none of them were pleasant. The nicest of the lot was, strangely, the fact that Wyatt Cain hated him.

Oddly enough, it was only DG and her simpering boy-thing that didn't notice the red aura of anger emanating off of the Tin Man--hat tipped down to hide the fire in his eyes, his arms always either crossed or balled into fists, his long-legged stomp as he followed the princess to and from her lessons. He spoke in truncated sentences, as few words as possible, and always nearly in a growl. He tried his best not to speak around DG at all, and looked at her even less. She would peer in under his hat, smile that lovely smile, and twirl away toward that hideous excuse for a man. Cain would be left in her wake with a hammering heart, a blood-red face and plate-wide eyes that narrowed quickly in pure and simple hatred for that boyish face and foppish grin.

Wyatt Cain was also the only one unaware of the fact that Mathias Dresden was _not_ DG's boyfriend.

He was, in fact, the head assistant to the palace chef.

He was young and charming, with an almost goofy-looking lopsided grin that had a boyish turn to it that might make any right-minded woman take a second look. He was tall, almost too tall, and his hair was often long and nearly unkempt. Cain wanted to shear it all off unapologetically--_see if DG flashes that pretty smile when you're hairless, Dresden._ He cracked his knuckles threateningly at the very thought of it.

Aside from pretending to be DG's boyfriend, he was a bright and unfortunately permanent addition to the kitchen staff. Cain wondered if any number of unfortunate accidents might occur and leave them an assistant short. If they didn't, he wondered if the accidents could perhaps be helped along.

Cain also didn't know that more than half the castle was in on it. Mathias had volunteered from the beginning, eager and ready in the ignorance and exuberance of his youth. Several palace guards had volunteered as well, as well as a number of young pages and three young men who she knew worked in the library. Ambrose had to fend off a number of his coworkers from the laboratories from volunteering as well. They obviously didn't take into account the consequences of masquerading as the princess's sweetheart, and got certain ideas into their heads about the perks. Ambrose made those boundaries perfectly clear, for once looking almost as imposing as the Tin Man.

In the end, Mathias was picked because of his already strong friendship with DG. Cain had already been eyeing him dangerously for getting too close on the few occasions they'd been seen together. DG made the announcement at dinner one night, that she intended to let Mathias court her. Cain unexpectedly choked on his next bite of pheasant, and had to excuse himself from the dining room to recover. When he returned, red-faced and apologetic, Mathias had joined them, looking giddy and red himself. Cain's eyes narrowed dangerously, but he'd said nothing.

Cain growled and grumbled and, according to one of the younger, more gossipy maids, had taken to throwing things on the odd occasion. When Mathias had turned away, Cain would sometimes mime a gun with his fingers and mouth an angry "pow-pow-pow" at the boy's back--DG had almost bust into a fit of girlish giggles the first time, but somehow managed to restrain herself. She only moved forward to take Mathias's hand in her own and practically skipped away. Cain followed, arms folded tight across his chest, keeping distance between himself and the presumed lovers only to keep himself from launching at the boy and snapping his neck.

Things escalated as the annual summer ball began to rear its ugly head. DG spent more time away from the assistant cook than with, and a great deal of Cain's ire fell away at this. Although she needed to keep up the illusion of a courtship, she really did like having Cain back--to talk to, to share with. Then, just as they began to get comfortable again, DG remembered the reasoning behind her little ruse and drew back into Mathias's arms. Cain looked lost, but nearly everyone agreed--the stubborn Tin Man needed a shock to the system to take the jump DG wanted him to.

On her balcony, alone for once with Cain, she thought for one threadbare moment that he'd take it, take those five steps to her and tell her that he loved her all along. But she just stood alone, hair dancing in the warm summer breeze as he stood alone and leaning in the doorway, his mouth falling open with no words to say again and again. She turned away from the world to face him, and he pulled his hat down to hide his eyes. She distinctly saw the red brush of heat across his cheeks, no matter how low he pulled the brim.

He walked with her everywhere, and she spoke always on Mathias--the green of his eyes, how he laughed and called her lovely, the way he would run a hand through his long hair when he was nervous or the turn of his smile when she said something sweet. Cain fell into tight-lipped silence; he knew DG too well to insult someone she liked in her presence. Of anyone, Cain knew that DG could take him out, and without even having to lay a finger on him. She'd just have to bat those eyes once, and that'd be it. Down for the count. Wyatt Cain, no longer of this world, done in by baby-blues.

And when Mathias would join them--always uninvited, appearing out of nowhere like he walked through walls to find them--Cain would clench his jaw shut and shove his hands into his pockets to prevent them from strangling the boy. DG laughed and fell into his arms. Cain walked away rather brusquely, and she heard him kick an innocent door on his violent way through it. For the first time since their lie began, Mathias looked worried and pale.

The plan unfolded at the Summer Harvest Ball, held as always at Finaqua to observe the suns over the lake during the longest day of the year. Cain had been stuffed into an uncomfortable suit, and he tugged uncomfortably at the collar, complaining in an oddly tight voice that fit him even less than the tight pants he'd been given. DG, her hair only half-finished and not yet in her dress, undid his too-tight bowtie and retied it more loosely to suit him. He was oddly quiet, and she saw his throat bob with a nervous swallow beneath her working fingers. She kept her twisting smile to herself as she saw the redness spreading from his ears down his neck.

For one moment, one heart-stopping moment after she'd finished but hadn't yet stepped away, his fingers brushed at the exposed curve of her neck to sweep her hair back. Quickly realizing that several boundaries had been stepped over, Cain caught his breath embarrassedly and moved away quicker than she'd ever seen him move. She gave a frustrated groan and nearly threw her hands up into the air once he'd disappeared completely. The chatty maid retrieved her and returned to pulling her hair up and back for the ball.

She matched Mathias, of course. They were announced together, which set Cain's blood to boil as he stood alone on the floor. Az was sure that if Cain glared any harder, Mathias would simply burst into flame. The boy in question looked nothing but giddy and oblivious--the mask was a good one; he was, as would be expected, mostly terrified of Cain, and what would inevitably come to pass. They made it alive across the floor to stand with Queen and Consort, much to Mathias's surprise. DG's eyes flashed once to Cain's, and she wasn't surprised in the least when he blustered to cover up the fury he'd been shooting at the man she was attached to.

The tall windows were all open to let the perfect weather roll into the cavernous ballroom. The soft breeze rustled both the gauzy curtains and the glossy dresses of dancers on the floor. Cain took great breaths to keep himself calm. DG was dancing, and she looked so lovely and perfect. Smiling so soft, her eyes on Mathias as he twirled her expertly. A cook _and_ a dancer--this man was too good.

After three consecutive dances, DG and her boy finally separated. She headed for her parents. He headed in Wyatt Cain's direction. Mathias had heard the signal--Ambrose calling rather loudly for a waltz from the orchestra--and knew that his final part in the plan had come. It all rested rather clumsily on his broad shoulders, and he knew that if he failed, the past two months had been completely wasted. He needed to pull this off, for DG. He silently said goodbye to all of his teeth and stepped up beside Wyatt Cain.

They stood side by side, looking out one of the open windows over the sparkling lake that had taken on the orange dress of the sky. They had only spoken once since DG's announcement, and it had been curt and anything but pleasant. Mathias had taken to flight when Cain made a vague allusion to rabbits tearing each others' throats out. He had a feeling this would be worse.

"Would you look at that?" Mathias said loosely, as if he'd been drinking. He hadn't but he thought it would help the illusion. He was looking back over his shoulder at the dance floor.

Cain didn't turn, but his mouth turned down into a grimace.

Mathias backed up his statement with a low wolf-whistle that only he and Cain could hear.

_That_ got his attention. Cain's proverbial ears went back against his head, and he turned instinctually to find where Mathias had his eyes.

DG. She was near the center of the room, smiling and greeting a well-dressed nobleman with a little bob. Her dress was blue, bringing her eyes out even further to shine out and fill the whole room.

"Can you believe I get to tear that off of her tonight?" Mathias asked, as if to no one in particular.

He could hear Cain's jaw clamp shut, a quick thing that sounded like a rifle shot. Mathias tried not to flinch as Cain turned his eyes from DG to him.

"_What_ did you say?" His voice wasn't loud. Mathias could barely hear it, but that didn't stop his heart from quailing away far into his chest.

"She told me that she's giving herself to me tonight, after the ball." He ignored the palpable heat radiating from Cain's eyes. Then, he dropped the word: "_Finally_."

Cain's hands flinched into quick, hard fists, but Mathias continued--a smarter man would have stopped at that, but Mathias knew what he had to do.

"She's dragged it on so damn long. I'd almost say it's not worth it, but just _look_ at that thing." A grin cracked over Mathias's face, and he no longer looked boyishly charming. He looked like a hungry man. "_That_ is a capital ass."

Cain's voice was like a rock as it dropped into conversation. "You should stop talking. **Now**."

"I know you're getting on, old man, but you can't deny you'd take a swipe at it if you had the chance." Mathias was treading dangerous territory, and he knew it. That was the plan. "In fact, I'm thinking about sticking around, keep coming back for more."

"I said," Cain growled, and Mathias realized that the Tin Man had grabbed him hard by the pressed collar, "_stop talking_."

"Cool it, Tin Man!" Mathias said, trying to bat his hands away to no avail. "If you're that concerned about it, I'll let you have a go when I'm finished--"

Mathias didn't even get to finish his sentence. Cain's hand drew back faster than he'd expected, and he had no time to react before knuckles crashed hard against his jaw, sending him reeling backwards to trip over his own feet. He hit the floor with a thud, sending a wave of silence back through the crowd. It hit DG like water on a rock, and she looked up with wide, frightened eyes.

Cain shook the pain out of his fingers only briefly before stalking over to where Mathias had fallen, ready for another swing. He didn't expect the boy to fight back.

When did a cook have the time to practice the follow-through on a perfect right-hook? Taken by surprise, Cain stumbled from the blow and nearly fell over as well. DG's high cry caught the both of them off guard, Mathias most of all. When Cain's fist reappeared in his line of sight, cracking down against his face a second time, he saw stars.

DG fought her way through the crowd, shoving past guests in a very un-princess-like fashion. The sounds of a scuffle broke through the hovering silence that had taken hold since Cain's first punch. There was blood on the floor when she arrived at the edge of the circle created for the brawlers, and a weak whimper took her as she realized it was dripping from Cain's nose. He bared his teeth back at Mathias, who didn't look much better--he was holding one hand over his eye, heaving a breath.

"Stop it!" She demanded, and every eye was suddenly on her. "What the hell is going on?" A handful of royals winced at her word usage, but most had become used to her mannerisms by now.

Cain turned his eyes back on Mathias, who did his best not to quail.

"No one drags my DG through the mud and lives to talk again," Cain rumbled. All the anger in the world was bottled up in those eyes; rage and honor and love, all stuck together in a way that made DG go breathless.

He brought his fist back, preparing another swing. Her two smaller hands were strong on his as she held him back, stronger than he expected, and when he saw just who was holding him back, all the fight just fell out of him.

Ambrose took Mathias away from the ballroom to the infirmary to check up on his eye--it was swelling quickly, and Cain held his back straight and proud at the fact. DG had Cain in his dressing room, where she'd tied his bowtie and he'd almost broken his shell to let her crawl inside with him. She'd forced him into a chair, and she wiped carefully at the blood from his nose with a white handkerchief. He was quiet and brooding and trying not to look at her.

"He might as well have called you a piece of meat, DG," he growled, fisting his hands again as if to take another swipe at the man.

"Calm down, cowboy," she murmured, carefully dabbing at his nose. He hissed, wincing despite himself. She drew back, but only just. Another silent pause. "I'm sure he didn't mean what you thought he did."

"Like hell," Cain grumbled. "Bastard was _boasting_. Like... Like you were a _thing_, not a living, breathing person. You're not a _thing_, DG, and I'm not gonna let anyone treat you like that without a couple broken bones to remember me by."

She was smiling too softly, and he realized now that he had no hat to hide under.

"My DG," she said, her smile turning up. "That's what you said."

He almost wanted to pull out a childish 'Did not!' but managed to keep from embarrassing himself even further. "You know I don't like him."

"You made _that_ pretty clear," she chuckled as she dabbed again at his nose, more gently. It had finally stopped bleeding.

"He's no good for you," he said at last. His hands wrung together, and he hoped that she didn't see. She did.

She turned her smile up, lopsided and adorable. "You got any other suggestions, Tin Man?"

As a matter-of-fact, he did. Any residual anger he had for Mathias died away in that instant, and she could see it drain out of him as a completely new something moved into its place. Something that made her heart want to swoon and sigh in her best Scarlet O'Hara impression. All it could do was beat hard and fast against her ribs.

All he had to do was lean down through the already short space between them to take her lips softly in his. The slow, patient way he worked his lips over hers, a kiss he'd worked through his mind over and over, had her leaning into his arms to keep from melting away. He wasn't quite confident, but he knew what he was doing. And she kissed him back, something that reeled in his head as amazing and impossible. She was attached--courting another man, the man he'd nearly blinded with his fist--and yet here she was, kissing him him back, moving her lips so perfectly to match his, with quiet snatches of breath between them.

"It should be me," he said quickly between kissing her and breathing. "Should've been me since the beginning. Never should've been anyone else. DG, say it's me."

"It's you," she said in response, eyes falling closed again. "God, Wyatt... It's always been you."

The second time he kissed her, there was no doubt in either one of them. As per DG's instructions, no one came to find them, not even when Mathias was pulled out of the infirmary with a bag of ice pressed against his left eye. There was time to tell him that her relationship with Mathias had been a farce later. The only thing that mattered was his kiss, his hands on her and burning into her skin. There was so much time.

* * *

AN: Howdy! Kay, so, I know this one is shorter, but it popped into my mind late last night and I had a hard time keeping a grip on all the little details. And it has, like... no dialogue. So tell me honestly what you think. If it's terrible and you want to throw rotten food at me or what. Umm... I kinda based Mathias on Jeremy Davies, who plays Toffler in "Ravenous"... just kinda. His voice was in my head when I wrote it. But taller. Imagine taller, more broad, and you got Mat. Aaaaand I actually think that's it for this chapter! Tell me what you think, and feel free to stone me if it sucks. I love you all, and I am TOTALLY getting around to reviewing everything I haven't yet! Don't hate me, I'm still catching up on stuff D: LOVE LOVE LOVE to you forever, and STAY AWESOME Y'ALL. 


	24. DG pretends to be engaged

_In which DG pretends to be engaged_

The royal family entertained several traveling dignitaries from lands near and far at Finaqua, and for the most part, DG didn't seem to mind them. They didn't bother her, and she didn't bother them. She would see them walk by as she read in the library, curled up on the window seat with her bodyguard eyeing them warily from the other side of the window seat. The young princess absently placed a hand on his arm, and the ex-Tin Man would adjust his hat and settle back down into the seat beside her.

Wyatt Cain had volunteered for the job of DG's personal bodyguard almost enthusiastically. When word had got around that the Queen was looking for someone permanent, Cain all but hopped out of his chair and offered his services to her for as long as she needed him. Lavender's decision had been made for her--he knew DG, they were friends, and it was all-too-obvious that he would do anything to keep her safe, having already demonstrated that ability several times over the course of a single week. He'd actually smiled when the Queen appointed him. When DG exited her room the next morning to find Cain standing just outside wearing the shining badge of office, she'd thrown her arms around him in her enthusiasm.

"Here I thought I'd be stuck with a stuffy old stranger." She was still clinging to him.

"Looks like you're stuck with _me_, Princess." He spoke into her hair, holding her tight in return.

"Likewise, Tin Man." Her smile was brilliant.

He followed her everywhere, and had become a second shadow to her. She'd complained at first, as everyone expected her to, especially Mr. Cain. But when the walls came down, when he walked beside her with an honest smile as they traded horror stories of their childhoods, there was nothing but delight in her eyes. Ambrose figured that they would have eventually been impossible to separate, even if he hadn't taken up the job of twenty-four hour bodyguard.

As part of propriety, when she had returned to the throne, Queen Lavender invited several prominent leaders of different regions of the O.Z. to visit the southern palace. The Munchkins had already come through, leaving a mess in their wake, and several more turkey jokes that DG thought clever. Cain laughed at every joke.

She had spent quite some time with the three small children of Lord Denson from one of the northern baronies. All three marveled at the green of the grass and trees, and Cain had to dodge through the hedge maze following four sets of childish giggles to keep his charge from getting into too much trouble. All five of them set up in the center of the maze at the foot of a great willow tree, nibbling at snacks DG had packed earlier. At DG's request, Cain let the eldest of the three wear his hat--the boy quickly proclaimed that he would apply to the Central City Academy for Tin Men and become the quickest draw in the Northern Baronies.

A rather large contingent of leaders from the Northern Baronies had arrived that week, and Queen Lavender decided to have a party of it. Who, after all, could refuse a party? She'd set up times for fabulous dinners, and a small, impromptu celebration at the end of the week which may or may not include dancing. Nothing too extravagant, but enough to make their guests feel welcome. Denson and his three children were invited to stay even longer for the festivities. DG quickly found herself three small best friends.

It was Denson's younger brother, Anton, that worried both the youngest princess and her Tin Man. He had missed his chance for the throne, and it had made him noticeably bitter. While he didn't necessarily look at the eldest boy with contempt, he wasn't the best uncle, either. He'd come along for the festivities at Finaqua, but his dark eyes didn't take any shine to them as the days wore on.

And Cain definitely didn't like the way those dark eyes seemed to linger on DG when he thought her bodyguard wasn't looking. Twice, Anton looked up to see Cain glaring back with eyes narrowed to furious slits, once cracking his knuckles threateningly. Unfortunately, while the initial shock caused Anton to scurry away quickly, it didn't discourage him as completely as Cain had wanted.

"He gives me the creeps," Cain grumbled, peering back around the corner they had turned to glare at Anton's back. DG turned to look back at Cain, who had stopped walking.

"Who? Count Adhemar?"

Cain turned to look at her, raising a questioning eyebrow. DG shook her head quickly.

"Never mind." She waved for him to follow, and he did. "Why, you picking up some creepy vibes from him, or something?"

Cain nodded, turning his head occasionally to glare over his shoulder at the man that was no longer there. "He's got something planned. Keep an eye out, Princess."

"Aye aye, Captain," she responded, flicking a salute his way. She managed to make him smile, and soon, the incident was forgotten.

Anton didn't lie low for long. He managed to catch her before dinner that same night, when Cain gave his daily report to the Queen and left DG to her lonesome. She felt cornered, even though she was a good three feet from the nearest wall.

"Forgive my rudeness," he prefaced in a voice that was surprisingly smooth for his visage, "but I needed to speak to you alone. And I know that it is rather forward of me, but since you wear no ring, I thought it might be wise to at least press my own case."

DG went pale at the mention of a ring, but Anton didn't seem to notice.

"As you can see, my own chances at the northern seat of power are already smashed, and I'm directionless without it. I see you, unattached as you are, and my mind only thinks on courting you. It would give me pleasure in my otherwise dull and rather superfluous existence."

"I, ah..." DG fought with her mind for an excuse. The one that came was impulsive and she immediately regretted it. "I'm already engaged."

Anton's face contorted strangely, somewhere between devastation and disbelief. "And just who is the lucky man?"

DG's mind went frantic again. If she wasn't quick on her feet with a name, he'd know she was fibbing. The first and only unattached male to spring into her brain was the name she shouted and nearly tripped over. "Wyatt Cain!"

Unbidden images of Cain getting down on one knee in the middle of dinner came to her mind, and she went quickly red in the face. Anton heard and saw, and his eyebrows only drew down further.

"Forgive me, Princess, but isn't that the name of your bodyguard?" He looked suspicious now. Suspicious was not what she was going for.

"Yeah," she said awkwardly, still fumbling to speak around the picture of proposal-Cain taking up most of her mind's eye. "I have to... go now." And she did. Anton was sure that he'd never seen a woman in a dress scamper so quickly.

Cain's head snapped up as DG burst into the Queen's study just as he made ready to leave, closing the door quickly behind her and leaning against it as if she were followed by a stampeding bull. Both Lavender and Cain stared at her, afraid to interrupt the silence that had shattered their window of conversation.

"You," DG said, waving a hand at Cain as she refused to move from leaning back against the door. "I need you." She slapped a hand to her face to hide the redness that was turning even darker. "I mean, I need to talk to you."

Cain nodded, the tweak of a smirk not matching the concern in his eyes. DG's head darted back out into the hallway, sweeping for any sign of Anton. Once she'd made sure the coast was clear, she took Cain by the wrist and led him away to a secluded niche in the hallway.

"So," Cain began, "what do you have to say that can't be said in front of your mother?" It was a knowing tilt to his head, something vaguely understanding that made even more heat migrate to her cheeks.

"Anton." She let the name drop, let it sink. Cain's lips pressed into the thin line she expected them to. "He's been stalking me."

Cain's pressed lips opened in a soundless growl as his head and eyes raised, daring Anton to show his face. He had a fist ready for it when it came around. It was almost enough to make DG break into giggles.

DG instead held a hand to her forehead. "He... sort of thinks that we're engaged."

Cain's eyes said nothing, though they'd dropped back down to stare at her, and his mouth had gone lax. He shook his head once, not understanding.

"He was coming on too fast," DG said, her own lips moving at quite a speed, "and I had to say something or he was gonna pounce on me. He's got that look in his eyes, that 'predator' look. You know. So I just said the first thing to keep him off my back, and that was you. And me. So now he's suspicious, and he's sneaking around, and I thought you should hear it from me first." She'd forcibly clamped her lips shut.

Cain shifted his weight to his other foot, and his arms crossed slowly over his chest. She took her lower lip between her teeth, breaking her eyes away. "Okay, I know it wasn't the smartest thing, but he was... _hovering_. And his eyes are kinda creepy."

"We're getting _married_?" Cain asked, sounding only slight exasperated. At least he was saying something.

"Just pretend. For the week. Then Mr. Foreign Dignitary will be out of our hair and back to sulking in whatever northern barony he's from." She still wasn't looking at him, and she could still feel all the embarrassed heat in her face.

Then, he laughed. Her head snapped up, burning distinctly in the tips of her ears and feeling an indignant little tug somewhere in her heart. She was tugged a very different way when he smiled at her, shaking his head and chuckling brightly.

His laughter bled into his words. "You could've just hit him, Princess."

DG held her spine straight, but his smile curved up at the blush that wouldn't go away. "Well... I didn't. Mother'd have a fit."

"All right." Cain shoved his hands into his pockets with a sigh. "I guess I'd rather it be me pretending to marry you than one of the cooks."

"Sorry, Cain," DG murmured for good measure.

He looked at his feet when he said: "You're probably gonna need to call me Wyatt, Princess."

It was her turn to smile at his sudden demure turn in attitude. "Then you better start calling me DG, Tin Man."

When Cain and DG passed through the echoing reception hall together, past Denson, Anton and the children, their fingers had been intertwined and locked together as they walked side-by-side. They smiled soft and spoke even softer, and Cain even managed a low chuckle for her. Anton crossed his arms and lowered his brow. The children squealed and practically frolicked over to them.

DG raised her eye from the youngest of them--a dark-haired girl no more than six--to catch Anton's gaze. He was brooding in silence, his eyes narrowed suspiciously on Cain. The man in scrutiny was speaking with the eldest boy again, stories of Tin Man Academy rolling from his lips and the boy taking it in with eager eyes. DG was not pleased when Anton took the few steps necessary to meet them.

"Wyatt Cain, I assume," Anton said, trying his best not to sound snide. The children stopped their chattering. Cain stood from crouching beside the eldest boy, adjusting his hat.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Congratulations on your engagement," he all but snarled. "I assume you've bought her a ring?"

DG nearly smacked her hand into her forehead again at the way Cain went pale. That self-righteous smirk appeared on Anton's face, as if he had found his loophole. This is just what he'd needed.

"I'm... I'm getting on it," Cain said as quickly as he could process it.

"The paycheck of a personal bodyguard to the princess can't be _that_ paltry, can it?" Anton asked. He looked like he wanted to say more. He looked like he wanted to throw scalding water on Cain and watch him burn. He was more than suspicious.

"I get by." One of Cain's hands twitched into a fist involuntarily. That hand occupied itself by pulling DG away from the children and into his side. "C'mon, Deege, we've got a meeting with your dad."

She allowed herself to be pulled along by the hand, admiring the way he stalked ahead of her, fuming perhaps more than he should have been. Once they were out of earshot, down the hallway headed for Ahamo's study, Cain finally slowed his pace.

"That son-of-a-bitch!" Cain growled, shooting heated glares over his shoulder back at the reception hall. DG took her place beside him, fingers still thoughtlessly threaded together. "He wants you bad, DG, and not in the good kinda way. I'm not giving up _that_easy, conniving little bastard..."

"You called me Deege," DG said with a curving, pretty little smile.

Cain's head swiveled to catch her in his eye, thoughts suddenly vacant from his head. "I did?"

She nodded. "I think I liked it."

He looked hard at his feet as they trudged along together, but she still saw the miniscule smile he let sit at his lips.

They did, in fact, meet with Ahamo. And his wife. And Azkadellia. The castle staff, thankfully, hadn't been crammed into one room, and the news would hopefully trickle down to them in time. DG admitted to her rash declaration of engagement to Cain, and, while assuring everyone that it wasn't true, they needed to believe it was true to keep Anton off her back. Cain also reported on suspicious behavior by Lord Anton, and his willingness to protect DG through any means possible. He tipped his hat down over his eyes to hide the sudden and inexplicable redness that took his face when DG turned her pretty smile appreciatively on him.

While they were concerned about DG's spontaneity, they agreed to play along solely due to Cain's suspicions of Anton. They were given permission to continue on with their farce so long as Anton was on castle grounds. And, with a fatherly glare from Ahamo, so long as Cain didn't try anything smart. Cain didn't know whether he should feel embarrassed or childish upon being scolded by a man--at most--only ten annuals older than himself.

So it came that DG and Cain pretended to be lovers. She was surprised at how easily it came to both of them. They'd always walked together beforehand, always talked and listened, only an inch away from touching. Now their fingers twined together as they talked, their eyes caught, and there was smiling. When in the presence of Anton, Cain took things a step further, which had her red and blushing as his fiancee shouldn't have done.

Sitting at a table in the reception hall as the children laughed and played nearby, Cain discussed his role in the early Resistance with an interested Denson. When Anton's angry eyes locked on the princess at Cain's side, she felt heat in her cheeks as Cain absently drew his fingers along the back of her neck, through her hair. He didn't pause in his speech one microsecond, as if he hadn't even noticed that he was doing it. When neither Anton nor Denson were looking, Cain smirked and flashed her a wink.

His hand was around her waist, holding her hip to hip with him as they walked Anton, Denson and the children to the library for a tour. She didn't know what to do with her hands, and felt slightly awkward for a moment before she reciprocated his movement and held her hand just above his opposite hip.

In the library, they stood together in near silence, staring out the big bay window that looked out over most of the gardens. The children whooped and hollered around them, causing grief to the library staff. DG almost didn't realize that she'd moved into Cain to rest her head on his chest as they stood in the light from the window. When his arms moved around her, something soft and barely there at all, she could feel his heart thrumming away under her ear. She smiled, especially at the cross look that settled into Anton's face as he stared obviously from across the room.

Cain pulled out her chair at dinner, something that made Ambrose knit his brow in confusion. When Cain took the seat beside her, touching her hand to his lips before smirking triumphantly in Anton's direction, Ambrose's mouth dropped right open. DG's eyes widened, and she winked several times in an obvious way at her best friend. Ambrose blinked, then looked to Cain for guidance. He was far more subtle, tweaking his thumb ever-so-lightly in Anton's direction with a grave look on his face. When Anton's gaze fell on them again, DG was quick to cover up Cain's accusation by taking his hand in hers.

"I don't know if I can take two more days of this," DG groaned as Cain led her to her room. Cain chuckled, mostly to himself.

"I'm that terrible, huh?"

"No, no," she said quickly, "not like... like _that_. I meant that asshole breathing down our necks."

"If I really _was_ gonna marry you, DG, he'd have a mouthful of my fist right about now," Cain grumbled in reply. "That's no way to look at another man's girl."

DG wasn't sure whether she should be blushing or not. Her brain seemed to decide for her, and her cheeks flushed red. When they reached her door, she found Cain lingering past his normal goodnight. He was still holding onto her hand.

"You, ah... You need anything, let me know, all right?"

The smile that took her was unexpected, and he unthinkingly mirrored it.

"See you tomorrow, Deege." He ducked in low to press a single kiss against her heated cheek.

He was walking away, hands stuffed into his pockets, before DG found voice enough to say: "Goodnight, Wyatt." His footsteps halted for a moment, and he quickly returned to walking away.

She couldn't sleep right. Cain was always there, even when she closed her eyes to try and forget the feel of his lips on her cheek.

She was expecting to see him standing outside of her door when she opened it first thing in the morning. She was surprised and disappointed to see Anton waiting there. He had a handful of flowers she assumed were for her. She immediately disliked them.

"Lord Anton," she said without a hint of pleasure in her voice.

"Princess," Anton said, the anger gone from his eyes. "These are for you." He offered the flowers.

"In case you forgot," DG said, ignoring the flowers, "I'm kind of attached already. Taking flowers from a stranger isn't exactly the way most betrothed princesses spend their time, is it?"

"I am still not convinced of your betrothal, Princess." Anton's eyes were anything but pleasant.

Just as DG pursed her lips, searching for an adequately scathing remark, Cain appeared without warning behind Anton and cleared his throat loudly. Anton jumped, much to the amusement of the princess. Cain brushed the dark-haired man aside and offered his arm to the princess.

"Morning, Deege," he said, still shooting daggers at Anton.

"Morning, Wyatt." She took his arm, holding herself almost too close. She liked the butterflies he'd brought to her chest.

They spent most of the day avoiding Anton in any way possible. In one instant, they would be talking and laughing with Ambrose, only to dash away as the man's somber footsteps approached. While in the gardens, they nearly broke into childish laughter as they hid behind a large, obscuring yellow bush, DG clapping her hands to her mouth to remain silent. Az watched as the princess-and-Tin-Man blur streaked by, Anton stalking after them with purposed strides. He'd do anything to catch them off-guard, to find that one hole in their plan.

Once they were sure that he was no where near them, they slumped together back against one of the cool marble walls. DG heaved for breath, most of it an act.

"I don't know if I can keep this up." She was nonetheless smiling up at him. "Any more running around and I'm gonna be worn down into nothing."

"He's only here for another day, Deege," Cain responded. "We can manage that, can't we?"

"I'm a terrible actress," she lamented. "He's gonna see right through me sooner or later."

"I don't know," Cain said noncommittally. "I think you're doing a pretty good job."

"Ugh," DG grumbled, leaning dramatically back against the wall again. "I swear, keeping up this lie is gonna wear my nerves down..."

She didn't hear the footsteps until too late, and it seemed that even Cain was taken by surprise by Anton's sudden appearance. With DG right in the middle of revealing their lie to the enemy, Cain knew that he had but one choice to silence her, and he took it. DG didn't have even a fraction of a moment to process as Cain grabbed her by the back of her neck and brought them together at the lips. Her sentence died in shock.

For one stunned moment she didn't think or feel or do anything. She didn't even realize that Anton had turned the corner and stopped dead in his tracks. Then, her body seemed to realize just where Cain's lips were, warm and held up tight against hers. His fingers in her hair, holding her against him, rough and soft at the same time. And so close and tight and...

DG's eyes fluttered closed on their own, in a slow, soporific way and she offered a low little sigh against his lips. Hands curled up around his neck of their own free will, and it was her turn to make his face go red and hot. She could feel it against her own skin.

Anton cleared his throat once, and she could have sworn she cursed out loud, the seal of their lips breaking at the interruption. When Cain didn't immediately pull away, her heart leapt and danced and cried out in some sort of victory. She didn't dare to open her eyes, not yet. Her heart gave another victory dance when she heard Anton's low voice: "I... I'm sorry to interrupt." And his loud, echoing footsteps began again, disappearing down the hallway from whence they'd come.

Then, nothing. She realized that they were both breathing rather deeply, and she flushed again in their closeness. Slowly, she opened her eyes. He was staring back at her, a look of plain shock written on his own face--it must have matched hers, redness and all. And those blue eyes, so close, almost apologetic. Neither moved, neither wanted to even breathe, for fear of breaking whatever it had been.

Her brain only functioned for that one bare moment, and the only thought that passed through her was: _Guhh... _

Strangely enough, that seemed to be the only thought written in Cain's eyes as he stared back down at her.

They both gave up at the same moment, and moved together for their second kiss. It was everything the first should have been. His arms wrapped around her, molding them together as their lips moved slow and sweet in their own sort of dance. And she was his as he moved his tongue in between her lips, over her teeth, hot with words he knew he couldn't say. And he was hers when she reciprocated everything, brushing her tongue back over his to pull that soft little groan out of him.

They broke apart only for need of breath, she leaning her head into the crook of his shoulder and nearly gasping for it. They left the next moments silent to retrieve their thoughts.

"Wow," DG muttered into his chest.

"Yeah," Cain replied, equally as floored.

When she met his eyes again, she was waiting with a grin that nearly hurt her face. It took him a moment to remember how, but he pulled out its mirror just for her.

When they saw Anton before dinner, he was wordless. He nodded to Cain in acquiescence and stalked away to his seat. He announced his plan to leave very early the next morning. Ambrose looked at them in a very different way, and there was something in the smirk of Queen Lavender as she watched the two of them take their seats together that made the butterflies return to DG's chest.

He walked her to her room, as he always did, and their hands were twined together, inseparable. Just as he had the night before, Cain lingered before he opened his mouth to speak. He was always one to think out his words before he said them. Cain never said anything he didn't mean. She waited in silence, simply watching the thought process in his eyes and feeling content.

"Anton's gone in the morning," he said first. He thought again, and a small line appeared between his eyebrows. "And this... _thing_ is all over." He took a breath when she didn't say anything, and it was obvious that he didn't want to be the one to say everything. "I don't think I can go back to whatever we used to be, anymore."

She wanted to say _It was one kiss, Wyatt--or, two kisses, rather. Two amazing kisses_. But, she realized even quicker, that she didn't want to go back to being "Princess" and watching him from far away. She wanted that smile to be just for her, for his eyes to shine like they had after that first kiss. Cain took a nervous swallow, and the sight of her Tin Man edgy almost made her want to laugh. She must have smirked, for a smile eased onto his lips, nervous though it was.

"Say you'll give me a chance, Deege."

The sound of it on his voice brought a real, full smile to life on her lips and in her eyes.

"What the hell," she said, quiet in their new, wonderful closeness. "Why not?"

She didn't know how long they stood in the hallway outside her door, latched together at the lips and holding onto one another. She didn't care, so long as he had her, held her. In the morning, they'd walk together to her mother and announce their courtship as official--she knew that they had to sooner or later, and sooner was always the best choice. She laughed: who else would get engaged first, court later but Princess DG?

* * *

AN: YEY I got this done before I thought I would! This one... well, I thought I gave Cain a hard time in the last chapter, so I thought he deserved a bit of a break. It's longer than the last two, so yey again to that! And, yes, just in case no one caught that, Anton looks like Count Adhemar (Rufus Sewell) from Knight's Tale. He's really a kind-of totally awesome bad guy. Umm, I also gotta say I kinda love imagining Cain calling her "Deege" and I don't know why. I've got these two on loop in my head, and I guess that isn't really a bad thing, seeing as I love writing them and y'all love reading them XD Tell me what you think, leave me some love, and if you have any suggestions you'd like to see my try out, drop me a line! I love you all with all the strength of my being, and I love all the love you're sending my way. LOVE BACK!! STAY AWESOME all you awesome Tin Man fans! 


	25. Someone else wants to marry DG

_In which someone else wants to marry DG_

She'd heard about it in fairy tales and bad romance novels, but it was never something she thought would happen to her. DG wasn't sure whether she was glad for the two months of not-knowing. They gave her time to be DG, to get used to being a princess, then slammed the fact down on her like a stone weighing her back down into ice cold water.

"When exactly did you decide to sell me off to the highest bidder, again?" DG asked, sure that her face was red from embarrassment and anger all at the same time. She didn't care, for the first time, how much of her temper she lost in front of her parents--let alone her Tin Man shadow and her sister, who both stood together by the door to keep DG from bolting. Az and Cain exchanged a short glance and bolstered their defenses, ready for a DG-colored bullet headed for them at any moment.

"When you were of five annuals," Lavender said as calmly as possible. Ahamo crouched by DG's chair, ready to spring up if she shot to her feet. "We were entertaining Duke Norren and his son of the same age as yourself."

"This is the way things work, Sweetheart," Ahamo said comfortingly.

"What, we have one play date when we're five and you think we'd make a good couple?" DG's voice raised a decibel, and Az winced.

"My marriage to your father was a deviation from the norm," Lavender admitted. "Arranged marriage is the preferred practice among the royalty." Her face, however was not strong, and she frowned at herself. "I am sorry, my DG, but you've been betrothed to Duke Norren's son."

"How is that fair?" DG asked, her voice high and thin. "You get to marry whoever you want and I'm expected to sell myself off to this guy I don't even remember?"

"We want what's best for you, DG," Ahamo told her, his hand reaching out to hers. She snatched it away. He looked slightly taken aback, but he continued. "Norren and Valentine have been invited to spend the week with us in preparation for the announcement of your betrothal. From there... It's up to you."

"Hypocrites," DG aid as she finally shot up to her feet. "I'm not gonna marry some poor kid just because you shook hands with someone fifteen years ago." She moved past her father, who had stood to match her, and straight for the door. Az and Cain both moved to block her escape, but with Lavender's "Let her be," they both moved uneasily aside to allow DG to barge out. Her heavy, stomping footsteps echoed back and quickly disappeared.

Cain looked to Azkadellia, and he knew he was wearing concern identical to hers on his face. "You want to, or should I, Highness?"

Az looked back after her sister, sighing. "You're quicker than I am, Mister Cain."

He tried not to smile as he took off at a long-legged jog after the younger princess. Azkadellia moved to sit with her mother and father, looking more worried than the both of them.

She could hear Cain catching up with her, and she was relieved when he didn't say anything. She listened to his steady footsteps behind her, following at a respectful distance. She knew without looking that he had his hands in his pockets, afraid that he would have nothing to do with them otherwise. He was watching her, but not prying. He was the only one who didn't pry.

She finally slowed and stopped, allowing him to step up beside her to continue his silence. Her eyes ticked up to him, and he wasn't surprised to see tears lining them. He tried on a smile for her.

"Want me to shoot him?"

She finally laughed, though it was too short. She wiped at her eyes, glaring back down the hallway to her mother's study.

"It's just stupid," she said, her voice clear of sadness but steeped in anger.

"I'm not saying it isn't," Cain replied, his hands still in his pockets.

"But?" DG asked, expecting it to come.

"No buts, Princess." He shifted his weight once. "I know what they want for you, and what they think is right and good for you. Doesn't mean I have to agree with them."

She shook her head, and he was pleased to find that he'd managed to make her smile, even just a bit. He looked at the ground, the space between them.

"Show up to meet the kid," he said, meeting her eyes assuringly. "I'll be there if you change your mind about shooting him."

DG's eyes smiled back at him. "You're too good to me, Tin Man."

He chuckled back, adjusting his hat superfluously. "Yeah, I know."

Norren and Valentine arrived together, surrounded by an entourage that dwarfed even DG's security staff. The Queen and Consort wondered exactly how Cain had coerced their daughter into the meeting she had been so vehemently against, but they didn't ask any questions. He stood silent and dark at the princess's side, one hand on his gun and the other with a thumb stuck in his belt. His eyes were restless, on everyone at once. DG, by contrast, was calm and still. She was watching only young Valentine, who stood across the reception hall from her.

He wasn't quite as tall as Cain, and not nearly as broad. His hair was a mop of mousy brown atop his head, slightly disheveled from his trek from the eastern territories. His eyes were nearly the same color, and nervously darted from princess to queen to the intimidating bodyguard in the fedora. His nose was long and thin, and he worried his lower lip between his teeth. In his anxiety, his shoulders had hunched up into his neck, and he twiddled his fingers before him.

Norren gave him a slight nudge in the direction of the princess, and Valentine almost stumbled. He adjusted his lapels once and took the first step forward. DG stepped away from Cain's side, and his grip on the butt of his gun went tight.

"Valentine, I assume?" DG asked, pulling on her princess mask and disappearing behind it.

"That's, ah... You can call me Val, Princess DG." He hadn't looked up yet.

Her mask faltered slightly. "Are you okay?"

Val gave a nervous sort of chuckle. "I'm a little nervous. It's been a while since we've seen each other."

"You've got me beat," DG said, something just short of a scoff. "I can't even remember it."

Val smirked, something low and nearly sad. "You were a bit of a show-off. Almost got me lost in the maze."

DG took a short glance over her shoulder to her parents and her Tin Man. Cain's eyebrows went up, and he motioned to his gun with one finger, questioningly. She shook her head with a smirk, then turned back to Valentine.

"Let's get this over with, then."

She tried to avoid him, for the most part. When she was forced into entertaining him, she would acquiesce only by the sad-puppy look in Val's worried brown eyes. And, though she didn't admit it out loud to anyone, because she knew that her Tin Man would be there, hovering just out of sight, ready to shoot on her command. On the odd occasion, between inane conversation and bitter tea, she would look up from under the shadow of her sun hat to see him nearby. Leaning against one of the columns of the garden's rotunda, just barely hidden by the paltry noonday shade, his hat tipped down just right, one hand on his gun and his mouth a worried line. Every so often, she would look up to find his eyes, and she was quick to divert her attention back to Valentine.

She was sure that she would have liked him if she didn't have to marry him. He was shy, but kind and a bit goofy when he let his nervous mask fall away. No matter the shaking in his fingers, he would always manage a cute lopsided smile for her and brush the stubborn messy hair from his eyes. He stuttered a bit when he looked for words, but he nearly always found them. He wasn't the chatty type, and was more interested in hearing about how DG grew up on the Other Side.

"And what's this 'pizza' nonsense you're going on about?" Val asked, looking questioningly into the empty teapot. DG held her hand up to get the attention of the nearby maid, who took Valentine's teapot to refill it. The boy flushed embarrassedly.

"It's a sort of Other Sider food," DG said, swishing the cold remnants of tea around in her own cup. "The most delicious thing ever invented, and no one in the O.Z. can get it just right. I swear, one of these days I'm gonna imagine myself a travel storm and pull Papa John himself over here to whip up a couple pizzas."

Val didn't quite understand, but he smiled anyway. He always had a smile for her. "I could try my hand at it." His smile fell away slowly, and his gaze went unfocused in the distance. "Once we're married."

The silence grew past uncomfortable, but no one wanted to break it. Once the teapot had returned, full and hot, DG stood from the table. Val rose quickly to match her out of respect.

"Sorry, Val, but I've got princess lessons today."

"I understand, Princess DG," he replied, looking crestfallen but hiding it well.

She nodded, somehow awkward, and took the steps necessary to join Cain by his pillar. He offered his arm to her, and she took it without thinking. They stepped away together, out of the hot sun and into the cool of the palace. Val twiddled his thumbs nervously, looked up at the maid beside him, and asked directions back to the quarters he was sharing with his father.

"He's kinda twitchy," Cain remarked, straddling a chair backwards to lean his arms crossed over its back. His eyes hung on DG as she willed the light through her, back and forth, one arm to the other. She looked up at him, and Tutor cleared his throat lightly. She focused her gaze back on her hands, their smooth wave of motion.

"Who?" She asked, although she knew.

"That kid you're supposed to marry." His eyes on her hands, where she focused the ebbing and flowing of light into physical energy. When she looked up at him again, he pointed to his face, where he made a twitch spasm through his eye. "He's got a twitch."

She bit back a smile, knowing that Tutor would clear his throat again if she lost concentration. She curled the light into a ball, rolling it between her palms. His eyes followed the line of her wrists, their slow movement.

"And he's scrawny."

"You don't like him," DG said, snuffing the light out quickly. Tutor nodded, though he didn't look too thoroughly pleased--as if he expected more from her.

Cain straightened his back but looked just as caught as a kid with his hand in the cookie jar. "What makes you think I don't like him?"

"You offered to shoot him about fifteen minutes ago," she reminded him.

"I offer to shoot lots of people," he muttered back, now refusing to meet her eye. "Only difference is _this_ guy wants to marry you."

Her shoulders fell a notch, and he noticed all too well. He opened his mouth to find words absent, and he quickly shut it again with a snap. Then, with that infallible DG perkiness, she pulled a smile out of somewhere and coaxed his hand out from his crossed arms. "C'mon, time to eat."

Tutor was the only one to catch the redness in the Tin Man's face as he allowed himself to be pulled up and away by his princess.

Valentine took Cain's usual seat beside DG at dinner. Cain most definitely didn't like this. He stabbed his food with his fork and chewed with a viciousness known only to greater carnivores. He didn't meet Val's eyes the entire meal, nor did he quail under the assailing glare of the youngest princess. He excused himself early, claiming it was his turn to do guard rounds on the palace grounds.

"Just who is that man?" Valentine asked, watching him go. DG's eyes lingered on his retreating form far longer than they should have.

"He protected me for a week and turned into my best friend. The best Tin Man there ever was." She glanced over to see Val's eyes expectant on her, so she continued. "I found him locked up in a tin suit. He looks out for me. He took the job without anyone having to ask. All he's been through, and he still puts up with me." A brief, humbled pause, and she returned to her food. After only a moment of contemplation, Val followed.

Valentine politely walked DG to her door, where he stood awkwardly for a few good moments before he sputtered: "This is where I'm supposed to kiss you goodnight, isn't it?"

DG shook her head too quickly, and flustered a blush out of nowhere. Val raked a hand through his hair and cursed something under his breath.

"I can't do any of this right," he said, his voice pitiful. "You and I are going to be married, and I can't even stumble over the right things to do."

"I don't want to marry you, Valentine," she said quickly, and she surprisingly didn't regret it.

More surprisingly, it didn't surprise him. His shoulders seemed to relax to reveal his neck, which made him look younger and taller. He very nearly smiled.

"Goodnight, Princess DG." He gave her a little bow and he turned to leave her.

She didn't realize that she had been crying until a strong hand shook at her shoulder and chased the fleeting dream away. She stifled her tears quickly, sitting up in bed and wiping them away with red-hot embarrassment. She was thankful for the calm, steady way his hand worked up and down her back, keeping the tears from coming back.

After a moment of silence, his hand still trailing along her spine, he cleared his throat and murmured: "You all right, Princess?"

She nodded, wiping at her face again. She glanced at him in the darkness: eyes too blue, worried and locked on hers; crouching beside her bed, like he was ready to spring and attack an assailant at any notice; very, very close and warm and everything. "I'm all right, Mister Cain," she said without thinking. She hadn't pulled out that epithet in a month, at least. She bit her lip in chastisement.

He seemed to notice, and his hand twitched away from her back for a brief moment. Then, his fingers brushed again between her shoulder blades, and she gave a light shiver in response.

"Want me to shoot him?" She could tell that he was smiling without even looking up.

She gave one dry laugh. "Not yet."

Another soft, dark pause, and one of his fingers curled under her chin to pull her gaze up. His eyes were sad, and her face went warm.

"Buck up, DG," he demanded.

She smiled--coyly, shyly. "You're too good to me, Tin Man."

He removed his hand with a nervous sort of chuckle. "Yeah, I know."

DG and Valentine kept a respectful distance between them as they walked the rows of the palace orchards. Cain remained far behind, holding a fallen apple in his hand and trying not to stare a hole into Val's back.

"It's wetter in the easter territories," Val said absently, looking at the sky. "It's raining more often than not. We don't get out much." He passed his hand over the trunk of a tree as he passed, looking nostalgic. "There's an old swamp near the villa back home. I used to try to get myself lost in there, but Father always found me."

DG was smirking. "Sounds like me. Here and on the Other Side. Always getting into trouble and coming home more mud than DG."

Val laughed, airy and nearly invisible. "You had your sister to drag along on your misadventures, I hear." He nodded to himself, glancing up at another tree. "I had Lady Lenore. _Little_ Lady Lenore. She wasn't a Lady back then." His face fell. "She was my best friend. Still is."

DG didn't raise her eyes from the ground. "Tell me about her."

She could hear the smile turn up in his voice, and when she looked up, his eyes shone like he'd set a light behind them. "She's a little like you, Princess. Passionate, speaks her mind. She swings a magnificent left-hook--they say she's the toughest brawler in the eastern territories, if she has something to gain by a win. Hair like honey, and eyes to match. And the way she smiles..." He looked to the sky, and his shoulders sagged, giving him the illusion of being taller. "She sets men on fire from the inside and burns them into shells."

"Wow," DG muttered. Val turned to find her smiling. "She sounds fantastic."

Val nodded absently and turned down into silence. They didn't speak again until they had left the orchard.

He excused himself to dress for dinner, and Cain was left to walk alongside his princess, and he surprisingly said nothing for a good stretch of time. He finally did manage to find his voice, and said: "He's sorta gloomy, isn't he?"

She smirked at her feet. "Gloomy how?"

"You know." By his pause, she knew that he was searching his brain for any particular instance. "Sulking around the place, shoulders all hunched up. Makes him look gloomy." His hands were in his pockets.

"You still don't like him." Her smirk grew as her eyes flicked up to his.

After a frustrated pause, he threw one hand up. "Hell, I'm pretty sure _you_ don't like him much either, Princess."

"I'd like to think we might be friends if we didn't have to get married." And her smile fell dead. A long sigh, and her own shoulder sagged. She failed to notice that hard frown that had taken her Tin Man's mouth, and he tugged at his hat to hide his eyes.

When the next day came, DG and Valentine had again been forced to mingle while their parents sat together and planned. The intended sat in the bay window seat of the library, where Cain and DG had spent many days saying nothing. A chess board sat between them. She wasn't sure if Val was letting her win or he was just abysmal at chess. Cain was somewhere with a book. She could smell the hot coffee he carried with him in the early mornings, far off in the stacks--like a beacon. The occasional rustle of pages let her know that her bodyguard was still alive. Maybe she should feign distress to call him away from a fictional world and into hers...

Val sniffled as he moved his rook up two spaces. She looked up to find him wiping piteously at one of his eyes. For some unknown reason, she felt her heart knot in concern.

"Val?" Her pieces were forgotten, and she leaned across the board to squeeze at his hand. "Hey, what's up?"

He tried to laugh, with only caused tears to prick at his eyes. "I don't love you, Princess DG." He laughed again, shaking his head at the odd look she'd taken on. "I should, by all means. You're a lovely girl, and you have a fire in your eyes. You make everyone happy just by walking into a room, and I'm sure there are more people in love with you than you know. Just..." He dug at one of his eyes again. "Just not me."

DG wasn't sure just how she felt about this information. Relief came first and easiest.

"I've always been in love with Lady Lenore. Always. Even when Father told me it was supposed to be you, I always loved her." His voice broke, and his face went pink. "I know I shouldn't--"

"No, no!" She squeezed his hand back, looking bright for once. "I don't love you either! It's completely okay with me."

Val smiled as he watched her through wet eyes. "It's that Cain man, isn't it?"

DG's smile remained on her lips for one confused instant. Then, as her eyebrows drew up in concern, she drew up and away from him.

"You're the only one who manages to make him smile at all." Val was smirking helplessly at himself. "If I could look at Lenore the way you look at him, I'd have won her already."

"I... I don't..." She wasn't sure where she was trying to get herself with words that wouldn't come. How did she look at Cain? Where would Valentine get the idea that she was in love with Wyatt Cain?

She was sure that God had decided to descend from on high to smack her upside the head with a heavy golden brick. Her world reeled for a moment and righted itself with terrifying clarity. Her mouth fell open, and her heart took the opportunity to lodge itself in her throat.

"Oh my God," she managed to squeak around the pulse pounding in her throat. "I do."

She pulled Valentine into a lung-crushing embrace, and he reciprocated with a tight sob he somehow managed to stifle.

Cain remained outside of the Queen's study out of respect, but he still managed to hear every word the princess shouted, even through heavy wood. He winced at her tone, but he couldn't help the swell of pride in her backsassery. Valentine was nowhere to be seen.

"I don't love him!" DG shouted, and Cain just knew that her hackles were up.

He couldn't hear the Queen's response--she was known for her demure, calm response, and he never wanted to hear her more. He was, however, sure that DG did _not_ like it.

"That's... that's... _STUPID_!" The princess's dam burst, and all the anger flooded out. "You can't make me marry someone I don't love! That's cruel and unusual punishment! And don't you feed me some line about what's _best_ for me! Only I know what's best for _me_!"

And again, the Queen's retort went unheard. Cain was almost to the point of straining to hear, nearly pressing his ear to the door.

"I'm not letting you make my choices! Screw propriety and formality! I'm not marrying him!"

And Cain took his quick step away from the door just in time for DG to storm out of it. He stood between her retreating back and her mother, who had stood from her seat to stare hard-jawed as her daughter left her. Cain couldn't decide where to keep his eyes, and found that he was walking after DG without even asking his feet to move.

"Mister Cain," Queen Lavender called lightly, enough to pull him out of his thoughtlessness. He turned to her, eyebrows raised inquisitively.

"Yeah, Highness?"

"Please, you seem to be the only one able to talk sense into my daughter. I implore you..." She sighed heavily and looked after DG's stomping, echoing footsteps.

He tipped his hat. "I'll talk to her."

She'd left her door open, and he winced at the sound of tears coming from within. He didn't bother to rap his knuckles even once against the door as he gently pushed it the rest of the way open and stepped inside. She hadn't turned on any of the lights, and the only illumination was provided by the white moon outside the balcony window. DG had curled herself up on a short sofa near the open window that lead out onto the balcony, knees tucked up to her chest and head buried in her hands.

The moon was full, and silver light filled up all the dark and empty spaces in the room. Cain shut the door behind him as quietly as he could, but the latch made a hollow click, and DG looked up with a truncated sniffle.

"Oh God," she wibbled, shoving her face back into her arms. "Don't come in, I'm a wreck."

Cain ignored her warning and stepped across the room to stand in front of her. His hands were shoved deep into his pockets. "You want to talk about it, Princess?" His voice was as low as he could get it, just barely more than a whisper. She shook her head in response, but answered anyway.

"He's got a sweetheart back home," she started. "He doesn't want to marry me anymore than I want to marry him. It's just _wrong_ and _sick_, tearing up true love. Why can't he be happy without everyone sticking their noses in his business?" She choked back another sob and added in a voice that wasn't meant to be heard: "Why can't _I_ be happy?"

At her last, she heard a new and strange sort of noise from the back of Cain's throat. She raised her eyes up out of her arms, and the moonlight caught in the tear tracks down her cheeks. He was looking right down at her, eyes and face unreadable. Her knees dropped down away from her chest, curled up underneath her as she adjusted her weight self-consciously. Cain opened his mouth twice to no avail.

Then, he shifted closer. He fell awkwardly to one knee in front of her position on the sofa. She tried to coax her heart back down out of her throat, trying to convince herself that this wasn't what she thought it was. He was a little less than level with her, his shoulders straight and his eyes full of moonlight, searching hers over and over.

It took only the briefest of moments for Cain to duck his head up into hers and meet her lips with his own. It was strong, confident, something firm and caring and everything a kiss should be. He brought her heart shuddering to a stop, and it was all she could do to keep her tears from springing back to life.

He broke his lips back, brushing his nose against hers in a way so delicate she wouldn't have imagined her rugged Tin Man capable of it. His voice was warm and close against her cheek when he spoke. She hadn't realized that her eyes had fallen closed.

"Run away with me."

Her eyes definitely opened at this. He was close and watching her, eyes bright and soft in the same moment. At first, she wasn't sure that he'd even said it. Then, he took a breath and started again.

"Run away with me, DG." His fingers swept her hair away from her neck, brushing against her skin. "I'll take care of you."

Her mouth fell open, and she could see all the restraint it took for him not to lean back in and take her lips. Her jaw waggled there for long moments that seemed to drag on endlessly.

He fought back something rough in his throat, and she could feel and hear his struggle against it. "I'd do anything for you, DG. Say the word and it'll happen." His fingers brushed again at her neck, finding a hold there as his thumb moved up and down, over and over. "Just tell me that you want me back."

She didn't know what to do or what to say. She'd been smacked again over the head with that golden brick; everything felt hazy and nothing felt real. She realized after a moment it was the tears coming back into her eyes. Her fingertips pressed tentatively against his cheek, and she softened when his eyes went weak. Then, she gave him a slow, wonderful nod as her eyes slipped back closed.

"I want you." She nodded again, more sure of herself as she said it. "I _need_ you. For a long time." Her hand rested just at his cheek, taking it all in. She took another breath and tested his name with her tongue. "Wyatt."

Like a sunrise through the dark night before it, Cain's eyes lit up slowly, filled with light from the inside until his smile turned up with it. So full of everything she'd always wanted to see, and everything he'd never have to say.

"Then let's do it," he told her, quiet and playful, like a child breaking the rules. "You and me, right now, out the window." His fingers were in her hair, and she was sure that she liked it. "Somewhere they'll never find us."

She was sure that she was crying then, when Cain brushed a thumb over her cheek to rid it of a hot, rolling tear. Smiling shouldn't have hurt so much, but then, she meant this one so much more. "Okay."

It was effortless when he pulled her up off of the sofa and into his arms, holding her against him--two black silhouettes against the full silver moon outside. One arm wrapped tightly, protectively around her middle and the other cradled the back of her head as their lips met again. The world spun around them, and it didn't matter. She belonged completely to him, and she told him in the way she opened her mouth to him, let him have her. The way she burned where he touched her, how much passion the both of them had kept a secret.

Her forehead pressed against his, she fought for breath and smiled helplessly as she said: "You're too good to me, Tin Man."

She felt his smile more than she saw it. "Yeah," he kissed at her cheek, "I know."

One soft sigh, feeling the fabric of his shirt clenched in her fingers and whispered simply: "Love you."

She was sure there was fire in his eyes when they raked across her. The best kind of fire, that burned her up from the inside out and filled her head with smoke. Her mouth fell open again, sharing their panting breaths between them. "Wyatt..."

They never made it out the window. The bed got in the way.

The morning was dark and gray, with light trying desperately to filter through the clouds that had built the night before. Azkadellia walked the hall briskly, shoes gone from her feet to allow her to make it to her sister's room quickly. She clutched a rolled piece of paper in one hand, and she was smiling for the first time in what felt like fifteen annuals. She was only slightly surprised when she didn't see Wyatt Cain standing outside DG's door, as he usually was at this hour. And, as usual, the door was shut but unlocked. It fell open with a twist of the handle, and Az let herself in.

The loud rustle of sheets and the terrifying click of a hammer pulled back on a pistol froze Az in her stride, all the blood gone from her face and her heart thundering away. She didn't dare move, and she stared down the barrel of a familiar silver gun pointed at her heart. This, however, wasn't nearly as shocking as where the gun was aimed from.

Both Cain and DG sitting up under the covers, she pulled protectively to his chest and he with gun arm straight and strong, pointed directly at Azkadellia. They were both completely and absolutely nude, and Az was never more glad for the invention of sheets. All three paled, staring each other down and jaws hanging a notch or two open. DG broke first and felt red heat flush over her face. She'd meant to be dressed and out the window by the time anyone decided to bust into her door. No one was up before dawn in the palace--no one who would bust in on the youngest princess, anyway.

After one more long, awkward moment, DG placed her hand at Cain's wrist. He took the hint and uncocked his pistol, bringing it down to rest at his side. DG swallowed to find her voice.

"What's up, Az?"

The eldest princess shook her head, looking aghast and shocked and everything else in the spectrum of astonishment. All she could manage was to raise the piece of paper in her hand and open her mouth soundlessly.

"Valentine," she said at last. "He's gone."

After Az had turned around to allow her sister and Mister Cain to throw on ample clothing, they joined her to read from the note young Valentine had apparently left tacked to his father's door in the guest wing. Az tried not to notice Cain's shirtlessness and DG's loosely-tied robe as they all leaned together to read Val's note.

_Princess DG,_

_You gave me the hope and strength to defy my supposed destiny. I ride out tonight to find my true lady-love, thanks to your words of encouragement and the strength of your spirit. I wish you the best with your Tin Man, and may you find the love I seek tonight. To my father, I wash myself of my title and my inheritance, if this is what it takes to love whom I wish. If all goes as I plan, we will not meet again. I wish and hope that it goes so well for you, my Princess._

_Love strong, live free,_

_Valentine_

Az caught the combustible look that flashed between DG and Cain, but they thankfully only twined their fingers together at their sides. Once they had finished reading, Az folded the note neatly and cleared her throat.

"They're still asleep. If you pack quietly, no one will hear you go." She smiled sadly. "I'll hold them off for you, Deege."

She suddenly found it very difficult to breathe around her sister's arms squeezing the life out of her. She whispered tearful thanks, over and over in her watery voice. Az somehow found it in herself to accept the warm, tight embrace from Wyatt Cain as well, shirtlessness and all.

With two sparse bags filled with necessities, they headed noiselessly for the back door through the dark kitchens. DG paused for only one moment to hang a note on the door as she went through.

_Mother--_

_Don't look for me unless you're ready to throw in a fancy wedding for a princess and her Tin Man._

* * *

AN: AH! Hi! Long time no write! I had a week of busyness and unfortunately couldn't update as quickly as I wanted. So I worked extra hard on this chapter and made it extra long for y'all! I hope you like, cause I think I really like this one (btw, I totally imagined James McAvoy as Valentine. Think what you will). That's probably all the "suitor" stuff I have in me, so the future chapters will probably be back to old form, what with cuteness and fluff and... no suitors. We'll see. :D Thanks for reading, thanks for all the love you're giving me (it keeps me warm in the bitter cold of Mideastern winter!) and I completely love all of you back!! Let me know what you think, and be honest! Love love love love annnnnd LOVE! Happy weekend, and STAY AWESOME!! 


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